When U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of “Best Hospitals” last week Mayo Clinic Arizona once again topped the state rankings.
U.S. News Announces 2025-2026 Best Hospitals | Press Room | U.S. News
Before you draw conclusions that they’re really the best – let’s explore what these rankings actually measure and what they don’t.
U.S. News uses a scoring system that focuses on high-end specialty care. Hospitals are rated on their performance in 16 high-end medical & surgical specialties (e.g. cancer, heart surgery, neurology) and in 21 specific technical procedures. They also survey board-certified physicians to assess hospitals’ reputation in complex specialty care.
That might sound comprehensive, but it misses the mark when it comes to public health, especially low-income and Medicaid populations.
Here’s why:
That’s why it’s so important not to confuse the U.S. News rankings with measures of actual public health & overall community benefit.
In other words. if your question is: “Which hospital provides the best high end specialty care for patients with comprehensive private health insurance” then the rankings give you an answer.
But if you want to know which hospitals do the most for public health and Arizona’s behavioral health and underserved communities, the US News and World Report is the wrong metric.
Note: Mayo Clinic in Arizona only accepts Medicaid coverage for transplant services and only if AHCCCS pre-authorizes the procedure.
To look at public health and community benefit you’d need to look toward hospitals that focus on underserved populations with the greatest health burdens like Valleywise Health does.
From the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center to its extensive behavioral health programs, Valleywise stands out as the backbone of our safety-net healthcare system, providing the kinds of services like inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care and first episode centers that other hospitals aren’t interested in providing.
And that’s exactly why Proposition 409 on the Maricopa County ballot this fall is so critical. It’ll provide much-needed investment in Valleywise Health facilities, ensuring continued care for those who need it most, including those struggling with serious mental illness, and providing the kind of care that really builds community benefit.
It’s fine to recognize excellence in high end specialty care for people with gold plated health insurance, I have no problem with that… but let’s keep our focus on what matters most for public health – robust and accessible primary and acute care and services like inpatient and outpatient mental health care and other safety net services.
More and more landlords in AZ have been requiring tenants to sign “crime-free lease addendums” in rental agreements as a condition of letting them rent.
These addendums let landlords evict tenants right away by simply claiming (even without evidence) that the tenant has done something illegal. No proof is needed. There doesn’t need to be an arrest or a conviction. Basically, no due process.
The Intersection of Public Health and Housing – AZPHA
Drug use is often the focus. A landlord can allege a tenant used illegal drugs, even something like “magic mushrooms” and use that as an excuse to evict. This can happen even if the tenant has paid rent on time and isn’t breaking any term of the lease agreement.
Arizona’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Act already makes eviction easy. For example, a tenant can be forced out in as little as 30 days for being just 5 days late on rent. Crime-free lease addendums make it even easier.
Being evicted in Arizona often means losing access to shelter in extreme heat (unlike other states Arizona’s landlord tenant allows evections even during extreme weather). In 2024, more than 600 people died from heat-related causes in the state. People without housing are at far greater risk, over 500 times the risk of people who are housed.
Maricopa County Heat Deaths in 2023: A Crisis for the Homeless & a Call for Housing Reform
When a landlord can remove someone from their home based only on an unverified claim like alleged illegal drug use, it increases the chance that more people will end up living outside during the summer. This puts lives in danger.
Attorney General Mayes is looking into whether crime-free lease addendums are legal. But an investigation alone won’t fix the problem, we need a change in the law:
Landlords shouldn’t be able to evict people without proof. It’s time for the Legislature to forbid crime-free lease addendums. Without action, more people will lose their apartments based on simple claims and more lives will be at risk in the summer heat.
See the PowerPoint on this Topic I’m Presenting at this Week’s AZDHS Public Health & Housing Summit Registration
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin ended the federal Solar for All program last week.
The $7B initiative (funded under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund) had been designed to bring rooftop and community solar to low and middle-income households, with a Tribal focus. Zeldin’s action is a $156M loss for AZ tribes.
The funding that had already been awarded will now be revoked, including $25M for the Hopi Utilities Corporation to install solar panels across the Hopi Tribe, $62M to expand access for Tribal nations statewide, and seed projects like Arizona’s first green bank, rural solar-plus-storage systems, and even solar/down-payment assistance for new homebuyers.
The impact is especially painful for Arizona’s Tribal communities, which were on track to gain some energy sovereignty, reduce dependence on outside utilities, and keep more economic activity within their own communities.
Like so many other actions by this administration – Zeldin’s decision will likely be challenged in court. For now, clean, affordable energy for Arizona’s most underserved communities is on hold and contracts canceled.
Proposition 409 would fund Valleywise health system expansion
Arizona regulators to vote Aug. 14 on repeal of renewable energy requirements
Arizona regulators vote to advance repeal of renewable energy requirements
Arizona Vaccine Summit Registration Site
Feeling lousy? COVID-19 cases are rising in Arizona
What to know about the new strains of COVID-19 detected in Arizona
This week, the Arizona Corporation Commission voted to start the process of repealing the state’s Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules, known as the “REST rules.”
Those rules were put in place back in 2006. They required big utilities to get 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Part of that had to come from small-scale sources like rooftop solar on homes and businesses.
The all-Republican ACC said the rules aren’t needed anymore because monopoly utility companies already have their own clean energy plans.
That claim is false. Last week APS announced it’s ditching all its clean energy goals including the pledge to get 45% of its power from renewables by 2030. At least APS’s CEO admitted their earlier ‘goals’ were never really goals at all – just ‘aspirations’.
APS Abandons Clean Energy Goals & While Demanding Yet Another Rate Hike
The rulemaking change will likely take months, but it’s clear the ACC staff will eventually get their REST repeal.
None of this should surprise anyone. Voters put commissioners in office who openly favor fossil fuels over clean energy. This week’s vote is just the latest sign of what happens when pro-carbon politicians run the agency in charge of regulating Arizona’s monopoly utilities.
Note: Because the ACC’s REST repeal rulemaking relates to their constitutional authority to regulate monopoly utilities they’re exempt from Governor’s Regulatory Review Council review, meaning the repeal is a done deal and GRRC won’t be able to stop the repeal.
When the ACC proposes rules related to statutory authority given to them by the Legislature, they are subject to GRRC – but the REST rulemaking will be under their constitutional authority.
August 13, 2025
Kevin Thompson, Chair
Nick Myers, Vice Chair
René Lopez
Lea Marquez Peterson
Rachel Walden
Arizona Corporation Commission
1300 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Re: Leave the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules
Docket RE-00000A-24-0026
Dear Commissioners,
The Arizona Public Health Association urges you to reject the proposal to repeal the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules (“REST Rules”). Repeal would raise power bills, weaken grid reliability, and threaten one of Arizona’s most vibrant job-creating industries.
Since 2006, the REST Rules have ensured that utilities steadily increase clean energy use 15% by 2025, with 30% from distributed sources like rooftop solar.
APS has already abandoned its voluntary goal of 45% renewable power by 2030. Without enforceable rules, Arizona risks losing investment and jobs to other states. More dependence on fossil fuels means more exposure to price spikes and supply disruptions.
The Commission’s duty is to ensure rates are just, reasonable, and supported by evidence. The evidence here is clear: the REST Rules protect ratepayers, support economic growth, and safeguard public health.
Repealing the REST Rules would raise power bills for Arizona families and businesses, undermine the reliability of our electric grid, and jeopardize a vibrant renewable energy industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and generates tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue annually.
Adopted in 2006, the REST Rules were groundbreaking: they required Arizona utilities to get 15% of their electricity from renewable resources by 2025, with 30% from distributed energy sources like customer-owned rooftop solar. The Commission recognized that enforceable rules—not voluntary pledges—were necessary to drive investment, innovation, and cost reductions.
That vision has been realized. Since the REST Rules took effect, the cost of utility-scale solar has dropped 84% and wind costs have declined 55%. Both are now cheaper to build than new natural gas, coal, or nuclear plants.
Renewables protect ratepayers from volatile natural gas prices. Arizona’s abundant sunshine has made us the fifth-largest solar-producing state, and distributed solar reduces the need for costly peak-hour energy imports.
The economic benefits are equally compelling. Renewable energy now accounts for nearly half of Arizona’s power sector jobs. In 2023 alone, the solar industry generated over $155 million in state, county, and local tax revenues. Rural and urban communities benefit from renewable energy investments, which ripple through the state’s economy in construction, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance.
The rationale for repeal, reducing compliance and administrative costs, is dwarfed by the economic, environmental, and public health benefits of maintaining the REST Rules. Moreover, APS’ decision this week demonstrates that utilities won’t keep voluntary renewable commitments.
The Commission’s ratemaking authority carries the responsibility to ensure rates are just, reasonable, and supported by substantial evidence. Stripping away the REST Rules would expose ratepayers to unnecessary price volatility and undercut the long-term stability of our energy system.
We urge you to update, but not repeal, the REST Rules, ensuring they’ll continue to deliver affordable, dependable, clean energy for millions of Arizonans while sustaining a thriving industry that benefits our economy and public health.
Sincerely,
Will Humble, MPH
Executive Director
Arizona Public Health Association
In a move that should surprise nobody, APS officially abandoned their previously (superficially) touted 2030 clean energy target.
What was once framed by APS as a commitment to 65% carbon-free energy by 2030 is now framed as merely “aspirational.” In other words, they were never serious.
At least APS CEO Jeff Guldner honestly admitted that their earlier statements were just that – statements – not strategic or serious.
APS also now plans to continue buying power from the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant through at least 2038 (8 years past what they previously said).
With a more fossil-fuel-friendly (and industry captured) Arizona Corporation Commission in place, APS sees little risk in abandoning their earlier rhetoric around clean energy.
They even signed a contract with a new interstate methane pipeline – doubling down on methane, showing their true colors – that their strategic plan rests on fossil fuels, not renewables.
Meanwhile, APS continues to demand higher rates from its customers. Just two years after getting an 8% increase from the Corporation Commission, they now want another 14% hike.
They’ll get it.
While other utilities are investing in storage, renewables, and grid modernization, APS is doubling down on coal, gas, and customer rate hikes.
Sadly, APS and the captured AZ Corporation Commission are fine with doubling down on carbon sources while making ratepayers foot the bill rather than Pinnace West investors.
Votes for Corporation Commissioners really matter.
Finally, some not so bad news from Congress.
The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Committee voted 26-3 last week to advance its version of the appropriations bill for the public health and health care agencies, and it’s not all bad.
The Committee ignored Kennedy’s request to made huge cuts to many of the HHS agencies (a 42% cut to CDC and a 40% cut to NIH). Instead, the Committee bill protected some key funding for public health infrastructure:
The bill includes new accountability measures for the Payment Management System (PMS) and requires Kennedy to brief Congress on technical improvements and to notify the Committee any significant delays or outages.
Note: PMS is HHS’ system for disbursing and tracking grant payments to recipients, like universities, nonprofits, and state or local governments.
The House is currently in recess but is expected to begin marking up its LHHS bill in September.
The full committee summary is available for review.
The bill includes a total of $9.1B for CDC, a $70M (-$0.7%) cut compared to FY25:
