On-call maternity care in rural Arizona boosted by AHCCCS funding
PHOENIX – The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) distributed $2.5 million to four community health centers through the Whole Person Care Initiative for on-call maternity care services in rural communities.
Unable to vote but with much at stake, undocumented migrants register Arizona voters and mobilize against anti-immigrant candidates
WASHINGTON – Undocumented migrants face a tough election cycle, with state and national policies at stake that threaten to make their lives in the U.S. untenable. To push back, some are mobilizing to encourage citizens to oppose anti-immigrant policies and candidates.
Rapid rise in syphilis hits Native Americans in the Southwest hardest
Syphilis infections nationwide reached a 70-year high in 2022, and no group has been hit harder than Native Americans, CDC data shows. Rates of congenital syphilis were three times higher for Indigenous than for Black babies, and 12 times higher than for whites.
Governor’s office partners with RIP Medical Debt to forgive billions in medical debt for some Arizonans
PHOENIX — Katie Hobbs announced that federal American Rescue Plan Act funds will be used to pay off medical debt of Arizonans who meet special criteria.
Maternal mortality soars in U.S., state; Black, Native women hardest hit
WASHINGTON - Maternal death rates more than doubled over the past 20 years in the U.S., with Black and Indigenous women continuing to see mortality rates that far exceeded other groups - a pattern that was repeated in Arizona, according to a recent study.
Phoenix nursery provides model solution for newborns exposed to opioids
PHOENIX – Hushabye Nursery uses a model called Eat, Sleep, Console to treat newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome, the result of withdrawing from drugs they were exposed to before birth. The nursery gives parents and babies private rooms to allow for family-centered care, with the goal of breaking the cycle of addiction across generations.
Pregnant people aren’t getting COVID vaccine, health providers worry
PHOENIX – In September, the CDC said pregnant people with symptomatic COVID-19 have a 70% greater chance of dying than symptomatic people who aren’t pregnant. However, thousands of pregnant people around the U.S. are hesitant to get vaccinated.
Q&A: Navajo woman starts nonprofit to improve maternal health
PHOENIX – The U.S. faces higher rates of pregnancy-related deaths than other developed nations, and Indigenous mothers are 2 to 3 times as likely to die as white mothers. One nonprofit aims to help.
Report: Arizona kids more fit than U.S. kids, but U.S. is pretty sorry
WASHINGTON - Arizona's schoolkids are doing better than their peers nationally when it comes to physical activity, according to a national report card.But that's nothing to brag about: The report card said kids nationwide are not even close to being active enough.
In rural Pennsylvania, family detention a world away from the border
WASHINGTON – A former nursing home in eastern Pennsylvania has been converted to a family detention center immigrants, one of three such facilities in the country. Protesters want the facility shut down, but federal officials are eyeing ways to expand the number of such facilities.
First in Congress? Get in line, as more women, minorities head to Hill
WASHINGTON - When Sen.-elect Kyrsten Sinema is sworn in next week, she will be the first woman to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate - a distinction that barely stands out in a Congress filled with firsts, as more women and minority lawmakers head to Capitol Hill than ever before.
Kirkpatrick, Stanton join freshmen in strong Democratic House class
WASHINGTON - Former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and two-time former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick joined more than 80 other newly elected House members for freshmen orientation in Washington, where Democrats prepare to seize control of the lower chamber for the first time in eight years.
