NW Medical Center bans smoking
There’s no more outdoor smoking allowed at Northwest Medical Center.
On Jan. 1 the hospital began a new smoke and tobacco policy that prohibits the use of any tobacco products on the campus, as well as at any affiliated urgent care facilities, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices. The policy extends to all private vehicles on campus.
Hospital officials say they have a variety of resources available to staff, patients and visitors to aid in their efforts to quit smoking.
Northwest Medical Center is not the first with such a policy. The Carondelet Health Network, which oversees four Southern Arizona hospitals, banned tobacco on its campuses in 2006. Tucson Medical Center enacted its ban in 2008 and followed it two years later with a policy against hiring smokers. The University of Arizona Medical Center enacted a similar ban in 2012.
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Walgreens will offer free meds to some
The nation’s largest drugstore chain says that during January it will provide free medication to certain Americans having difficulty using their new health insurance.
As newly insured Americans begin using their benefits under the federal Affordable Care Act, Walgreens says it will provide medications to patients who haven’t received a plan identification number yet from their insurer.
In those situations, through the end of January, patients can bring confirmation of their enrollment in the public health insurance marketplace to a Walgreens pharmacy, or the pharmacy staff can check to verify eligibility. Walgreens will assist them by providing up to a month of a traditional, brand and generic medication at no upfront cost, the company says. Traditional medication excludes complex therapy medications.
Officials with Walgreens said they have asked insurance companies for nightly eligibility file updates on health insurance marketplace plan enrollees to help ensure pharmacy teams have the most up-to-date coverage information.
Walgreens is also encouraging patients who enrolled through the public marketplace to confirm coverage with their insurance company and bring to the pharmacy current benefit information. With that information, Walgreens pharmacy staff can review patient benefits and work with the patient’s insurance company directly to confirm benefit eligibility.
Sat. event to provide ACA information
Anyone with questions about enrolling in insurance through the Affordable Care Act will be able to get information at a health fair scheduled for Saturday.
The fair, which will be held throughout the day at Armory Park downtown, is part of the citywide Beyond event, which occurs on a Saturday in early January to commemorate the anniversary of the Jan. 8, 2011, Tucson shootings that killed 6 and injured 13, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The event is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of our community and encourages Arizonans to come together, get outside and be physically active.
Find more information on Beyond at www.beyond-tucson.org/about/
The federal health-care website is healthcare.gov.
More information about the federal Affordable Care Act is available on the Pima County Health Department website: http://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=49288
UA doctor gets cardiology award
Dr. Michael Seckeler, a University of Arizona assistant professor of cardiology in the department of pediatrics, has been awarded the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, Early Career Investigator Award by the American Heart Association.
The award recognizes early-career investigators who are performing high-quality research in the field of pediatric cardiovascular disease, UA officials say.
Seckeler received the award for his project, “Development and Validation of an Accurate Predictive Equation for Oxygen Consumption in Congenital Heart Disease.”
Oxygen consumption is a critical component of the calculations used in the catheterization lab to understand a patient’s thermodynamics — pressure and flow within the heart, lungs and body.
