WATCH OWCH
Office of Women’s and Children’s Health
150 N. 18th Avenue, Suite 320 Phoenix, AZ 85007-3242
Telephone: (602) 364-1400

Spring 2007

NATIONAL WOMEN’S HEALTH WEEK
National Women's Health Week is a
national effort by an alliance of organizations to raise awareness
about manageable steps women can
take to improve their health. The
focus is on the importance of incorporating simple preventive and positive health behaviors into everyday
life. When women take even the
simplest steps to improve their
health, the results can be significant.
But women need to be able to
choose the most effective steps for
their individual lifestyles and circumstances. They need to be informed
and take responsible actions to improve their own health.
The Governor's Office for Children,
Youth and Families, in collaboration
with the Arizona Department of
Health Services (ADHS), the Rural/
Frontier Women’s Health Coordinating Center, and other state and local

partners, have created the Arizona
Women’s Health Week campaign to
raise awareness about women’s
health issues and to foster collaboration between health care providers,
state, local, and tribal government,
and social service organizations.
Arizona Women’s Health Week is
May 13-19 and will adhere to the
national theme: "It's your time Pamper your mind, body and spirit."
The event is held in concert with a
national effort by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
to raise awareness about manageable steps women can take to improve their health. For more information about the national effort, visit
http://www.4woman.gov/whw/
In Arizona in 2006, there were 29
activities in 6 counties. Activities
included health fairs, seminars, and
participatory fitness and focused

primarily on education and screening. The leading issues addressed
through statewide activities were
breast health and chronic disease
prevention and/or treatment. However many other women’s health
issues were addressed as well.
Plans are underway to plan and
promote similar activities for 2007
with the goal of reaching out to more
communities throughout the state.
To learn more about Women's
Health Week and how your community can become involved, contact
Jessica Yanow by calling 602-3641486 or emailing her at
yanowj@azdhs.gov.
For information about events for
state employees and about local
events visit the ADHS web site at
http://www.azdhs.gov/whweek.

BABY ARIZONA: WHAT IS IT? HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Pregnancy and Breast Feeding
Hotline is a statewide, bilingual service
that has been sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health Services
(ADHS) since April 1988. The Hotline’s mission is to ensure the health,
safety, and well being of pregnant
women and their families through
community based, family centered,
and culturally sensitive systems of
care.
One of the many services that the Hotline provides is to assist Arizona’s
Medicaid program, the Arizona Health
Care Cost Containment System
(AHCCCS), with pre-screening for the
Baby Arizona Program. Baby Arizona
is a program that helps pregnant
women begin the important prenatal
care they need by providing a simple,
faster way to get health care before

the application process for AHCCCS The Provider’s office will submit the
health insurance is complete.
application paperwork to the Department of Economic Security (DES) and
How does prescreening work?
A woman will call the Hotline at 1-800- will await notification of eligibility. If the
833-4642 stating that she thinks she is woman is determined eligible she will
or knows she is pregnant. Hotline staff continue with that provider thru delivwill ask if she is interested in complet- ery and AHCCCS will pay the bills.
ing a pre-screening for Baby Arizona.
If she says yes, the Hotline representative will ask a series of questions that will provide potential eligibility. If the woman is potentially
eligible she will be given the name
and address of three Baby Arizona
providers in her community. The
woman will select one of the providers and schedule an appointment.
At the first appointment the woman
will be asked to complete a Baby
Arizona application and will have
her first prenatal visit.

Continued on page 2

Inside this issue
National Women’s Health Week.......... 1
Baby Arizona........................................ 1
Community Health Grants.................. 2
FREE Conference ................................. 2
Cystic Fibrosis Newborn Screening.... 3
RMPHEC update.................................. 3
A Serious threat to AZ babies .............. 3
New employees..................................... 4

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If she is determined in-eligible she
can still continue her visits with the
provider but she and the provider
will need to work out a reasonable
payment plan.
If during the pre-screening process

the woman appears ineligible, the
Hotline representative will provide
information on low cost care available in the woman’s community. If
program eligibility is too difficult to
determine, the woman will be encouraged to apply at DES directly.

Spring 2007
For more information about Baby
Arizona visit the AHCCCS web site:
http://www.babyarizona.gov/Default.
aspx.

NEW 2007 COMMUNITY HEALTH GRANTS SERVE LOCAL COMMUNITIES
The Office of Women’s and
Children’s Health awarded
eight new Community
Health Grants. Successful
grantees include county
health departments and private agencies, as well as
tribal organizations. All of
these have begun to provide much-needed services
in parts of Apache, Coconino, Maricopa, Navajo,
Santa Cruz, Navajo, Pima,
and Yavapai Counties.
Each program was tailored
by and for the local community to meet its own identified needs, so no two grants
are exactly alike. Although
all of the programs fall
within three major categories: reducing obesity and
overweight among infants
and children, reducing preventable infant mortality,
and reducing the rate of
injuries (both intentional and
unintentional). A few program highlights are included
below:
Apache County Health Department offers an ageappropriate car safety program for children from preschool through teens. Parents of small children may
receive education and free
car seats. Classes about
obesity/overweight targeted
specifically toward Native
American children grades 3
through 6 are offered. Information about preconception care, pregnancy, and
newborn care is also available.

Parents learn about proper
installation, and may receive free car seats. Inschool injury prevention
presentations are provided
for children. Topics include
not only motor vehicle
safety, but firearm safety,
fire prevention, and poison
prevention.
Maricopa County Department of Public Health provides an injury prevention
program for children and
adults, which may include
free bicycle helmets and car
seats.
Instruction about
preconception health and
infant care, tobacco use,
stress management, breastfeeding, and folic acid are
also available, along with
classes and activities that
address obesity and being
overweight.
Mariposa Community
Health Center in Nogales
provides nutrition information, physical activity, and
motivation to reduce overweight and obesity among
Hispanic women and adolescents. Intervention
classes are designed to be
both culturally and linguistically relevant for participants.

Mountain Park Health Center offers obesity/overweight
reduction services for children in Maricopa County.
Activities also include recruiting community partners
who will commit to promoting healthy eating and
Coconino County Health physical activity, as well as
Department operates a car providing resources to reseat safety program for duce childhood obesity
children and adults.
among doctors and other

health counselors.
The Tohono O’odham Nation is creating a “Pregnancy Circle of Care”
among service providers to
integrate and strengthen
substance abuse prevention. The program will draw
on native culture, language,
and traditions to achieve its
purpose. Goals will include
increasing community
knowledge, changing community norms, and providing
culturally appropriate prevention education materials,
as well as improved risk
assessments during early
pregnancy.
Yavapai County Community
Health Services provides
first-time mothers with education and support about
maternal and infant health
care during regular home
visits from a public health
nurse. Clients receive education and support about
nutrition and physical activity, as well as, information
about breastfeeding, when
to start their baby on solid
foods and when to increase
them, the dangers of bottle
propping, and foods that
can cause choking. In addition, they learn about home
and transportation safety.
Adolescents age 12 through
18 may receive education
about healthy and abusive
dating relationships.
Additional services may be
available in each local area.
For more information about
Community Health Grants,
please visit:
www.azdhs.gov/phs/owch/com
mhlth.htm.

FREE
CONFERENCE
HOSTED BY THE

WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
The White House Office of
Faith and Community Initiatives in partnership with the
Governor’s Office of Faith and
Community Initiatives is hosting a free conference in
Phoenix on May 15-16, 2007.
The conference will be held at
the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix. The
goal of the program is to provide participants with a general overview of the FaithBased and Community Initiative, information about the
government grants process
and available funding opportunities, and an overview of
the legal responsibilities that
come with the receipt of Federal Funds. The event will also
offer grant writing tutorials for
select Federal Grant programs and a workshop for
government procurement
specialists on how government entities can contract with
faith-based and community
organizations.
The conference is geared primarily towards faith-based and community organizations with little
or no history of applying for
government grants, as well as
government staff interested in
learning how they can work
with faith-based and grass
roots community organizations.
It is important to register as
early as possible to ensure a
space is reserved. The cut-off
date for registration is May 1
or earlier if 2,000 registrations
are received prior to that date.
Please share this information
with any staff or partner who
might benefit from the information. The registration site is
http://www.dtiassociates.com/f
bci/index.cfm.

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SCREENING NEWBORNS FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS
In the early fall of 2007, the Arizona Department of Health
Services will begin screening Arizona newborns for Cystic
Fibrosis (CF). CF will be the final disorder to complete the
panel of 29 disorders recommended nationally by the
American Academy of Pediatrics and the March of Dimes.
The CF screening process includes two parts: IRT and
DNA. For example, Girl Wonder’s blood spot specimen arrives at the laboratory. The laboratory would test her blood
spot for 29 disorders, including Cystic Fibrosis. An elevated
immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT) result would trigger a
screen for DNA mutations. Results of IRT and DNA mutations will be reported to the healthcare provider who submitted Girl Wonder’s specimen.
Arizona’s two certified Cystic Fibrosis Centers (Phoenix
Children’s Hospital and Arizona Respiratory Center in Tucson) will offer consultation to newborns’ healthcare providers. The CF Centers will conduct sweat tests to diagnose
babies and subsequent treatment may ensue.
Using this testing methodology and considering the panel
of DNA mutations for which we will screen newborns, we
anticipate 15-20 cases of Cystic Fibrosis. The cost of CF
screening will be included in the usual cost of newborn
screening ($30 for the 1st screen and $40 for the 2nd
screen). The Newborn Screening Program will offer CF
education for healthcare providers. Please check out our
website for future updates:
http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/owch/newbrnscrn.htm

CONGENITAL SYPHILIS: A SERIOUS THREAT
TO BABIES IN ARIZONA
Syphilis is a serious sexually
transmitted disease that can cause
severe complications for those
who are infected. Unfortunately,
pregnant mothers infected with
syphilis can pass this infection
onto the babies they carry. Syphilis passed from an infected mother
to her baby is known as congenital
syphilis.
Sadly, Arizona leads the US in
congenital syphilis rates for the
years 2003, 2004, and 2005 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Preliminary data for
2006 (ADHS & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) suggest that Arizona will once again
lead the US in the rate of congenital syphilis cases for that year. In
Arizona, almost 75% of babies
diagnosed with congenital syphilis
are born to Hispanic mothers.

Spring 2007

ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC HEALTH
EDUCATION CONSORTIUM UPDATE
Mission Update

The Consortium’s mission was recently updated. The mission of the Rocky Mountain Public Health Education Consortium (RMPHEC) is to improve health among women,
children and families by increasing knowledge, skills, and
capacity of the current and future public health workforce,
organizations and systems thorough
•
Workforce development
•
Collaborative research
•
Community engagement

Radical Changes Underway for the RMPHEC
Summer Institute

The RMPHEC will offer the Institute training in a new way
this year. Activities will be planned each year in conjunction
with a member state’s annual public health or other meeting. This year activities will be in conjunction with the
Colorado/Wyoming Public Health Meeting that will be held
September 15 to 19 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Mark your
calendar and more information will follow!

RMPHEC MCH Certificate Program

Applications will soon be released for the new class for the
RMPHEC MCH Certificate Program. The certificate program is a popular way for you, your colleagues or staff to
strengthen knowledge of maternal and child health. Offered through the Consortium, it is a one year, 12 credit
hour program for MCH professionals wishing to enhance
their public health leadership, scholarship and partnership
capabilities. This year’s program runs from September
2007 through September 2008. Watch the website at
http://w3.publichealth.arizona.edu/mch.

RMPHEC Sponsors MCH Trainings in New Mexico
and Alaska

Lack of prenatal As part of efforts to increase MCH capacity within our recare, late, or lim- gion, the Consortium is now making two grants available
ited prenatal care each year to assist in the delivery of MCH content at local
are contributing state events. In 2006, the consortium sponsored two
factors to the high events. The first resulted in a MCH track being available at
rates of congenital the New Mexico Public Health Meeting. The second grant
sponsor Dr Milt Kotelchuck’s participation in the
syphilis in Arizona. helped
University of Alaska's MPH Seminar Series in Anchorage.
Also, most missed Dr. Kotelchuck is the Chair of the Department of MCH at
opportunities to Boston University and founding Editor of the Maternal Child
prevent congenital Health Journal. For more information about having a trainsyphilis appear to ing sponsored in your state, contact Douglas Taren at
be due to women taren@email.arizona.edu.
not receiving an
appropriate prenasyphilis test at the time of their first
tal syphilis test or to not receiving
prenatal visit. Many doctors and
adequate syphilis treatment 30
public health officials also recomdays prior to the delivery of the
mend that women receive a syphiinfant.
lis test at the beginning of their
third trimester of pregnancy. With
Congenital syphilis can be preappropriate early treatment, pregvented by testing women early in
nant mothers infected with syphilis
their pregnancy for syphilis and by
can be cured and thus prevent
treating those pregnant women
passing the infection onto their
already infected. Arizona law rebaby.
quires that all women receive a

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Spring 2007

New Employees Since Our Last Edition

Cary Bailen
Health Educator

Denise Pawlak
Finance/ Grant Specialist

Cameron Lewis
Program Manager

Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Katherine Rose
Administrative Secretary
Newborn Screening
Program

Jamie Smith
Injury Epidemiologist

June Patnode
Assistant to the OWCH Chief

Dee Vlahos
Contract Specialist

Kim Wehmeyer
Office Manager

Kirsten Grina
Program Manager
Sexual Health

Cheryl Czappa
Administrative Assistant

Laura Miller
Follow-up Specialist

Planning Education and Partnership Newborn Screening Program

Tiffany McRae
Program Manager
Hospital and Physician
Services

Kristy Weiss
Follow-up Specialist
Newborn Screening
Program

Sondi Aponte
Hearing Data Specialist
Newborn Screening
Program