Saving Lives Through Heat Relief: Arizona’s Novel Approach
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather threat in the Southwest — but Arizona is proving those deaths are preventable. Join the Arizona Public Health Association and the Health Insights Hub by Hess III Consulting for this free webinar, featuring Maricopa County and Pima County Departments of Public Health, for a closer look at their novel, coordinated approaches to heat relief. Discover how Maricopa and Pima Counties are tackling extreme heat
Public Health Journalism this Week
Lettuce served at Taco Bell traced to nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak – Arizona PBS Measles case counts in Maricopa County are rising. Were you exposed? Ex-Ohio prisons chief to handle Arizona prison health care Arizona boxing gyms and the loneliness epidemic | Opinion Taco Bell removes lettuce nationwide amid cyclospora outbreak The Trump administration shifts teen pregnancy prevention from contraception to fertility tracking, abstinence and marriage | Arizona Mirror Maricopa County
Trump Administration Takes Shots at Olmstead… but Institutionalization Unlikely to Return
Last summer, the president issued an executive order called “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” The order argued that homelessness, serious mental illness and substance use should be addressed via more “long-term institutional settings.” Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets – The White House The EO mainly focused on people with serious mental illness, but it could potentially have broader consequences for people with all kinds of disabilities,
How Care for People w/ Disabilities Transitioned from Institutions to Communities
During the 18th 19th and most of the 20th century in the standard of care for helping persons with serious mental illness or intellectual and developmental disabilities in the US (to the extent there was any help at all), was institutionalization. People were often separated from their families & communities and sent to state-operated facilities (like the Arizona State Hospital) for most of their lives. Those institutions often had limited healthcare and
AHCCCS Proposal Expands Access to a Full Year of Birth Control AZPHA Submitted Comments Supporting the Move
Last week AHCCCS proposed a change to their pharmacy policy to make it easier for Medicaid members to get an extended supply of contraceptives. The proposed change (to AMPM Policy 310-V) allows AHCCCS members to get a 12-month supply of oral contraceptive products at one time. Non-oral contraceptive products could continue to be dispensed in supplies up to 90 days. The current policy limits all contraceptive products to a maximum 90-day supply. The revised
AZ’s First Rural Health Transformation Grants Target Overdose Prevention, Telehealth & Data Management
After months of planning (and missed timelines) Arizona finally released the first of the competitive grant opportunities under the Rural Health Transformation Program. AHCCCS posted the Opioid Antagonist Distribution Initiative Request for Grant Applications last week. Applications are due August 7, 2026. Here’s the full grant announcement and application information. The other two grants focus on Medical Diagnostic Equipment and EHR upgrades and Telehealth Digital Transformation State Turns in Revised Rural Health Transformation Grant Proposal The