The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Health Equity Director, Dulce Diez, said lowering the cost of primary care is the most important way to bridge the equity gap for underserved Utahns. At our 2022 Utah State of Reform Health Policy Conference, Diez sat down with us to discuss the importance of lowering … Read more
Tracy Gruber is the Executive Director of the newly merged Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The merger of DHHS became official July 1st in efforts to streamline operations between the Department of Health and Department of Human Services. In this Q&A, Gruber discusses the benefits of the merger and the next steps … Read more
At their last Health and Human Services Interim Committee meeting, the Utah Legislature continued their conversation on efforts to lower and contain prescription drug prices. The committee heard from Milligram—a company that aims to find lower cost and high quality medications for employers and consumers—hoping to partner with the state of Utah to find lower … Read more
Today marks the official merge to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the release of the new department’s website. The Utah Department of Health and the Department of Human Services have been working since March 2021—since the passage of HB 365—to effectively and efficiently combine the two departments. Since … Read more
The University of Utah Health’s (U of U Health) Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) held a panel on Wednesday discussing the ways HMHI and U of U Health are advancing health equity and provider competency for the LGBTQIA+ affirming care for the community. The panel included Anna Docherty, PhD, a Clinical Psychologist and Statistical Geneticist … Read more
The Utah Legislature is thinking of ways to align the priorities of local county health departments in the state with the funding and stipulations of the state and federal governments. At the Health and Human Services Interim Committee meeting on June 15th, the legislature discussed ways to improve the processes around local health department funding … Read more
Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, in partnership with University of Utah Health, has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals in eight pediatric specialties. Intermountain Primary Children’s was ranked among the nation’s top children’s hospitals for cancer care, cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, neonatal … Read more
The federal Center for Optimizing Rural Health (CORH) is accepting applications for the Vulnerable Rural Hospital Assistance Program, which provides free technical support to rural hospitals through guidance, resources, and recommendations. The program aims to address economic challenges faced by hospitals. Applications for the program—which is in its 5th year—opened on June 1st and will … Read more
Jared Sanford is the President and CEO of Valley Behavioral Health in Utah. Before Valley, Sanford was President and CEO of Lifeline Connections, a substance use and mental health treatment facility in Vancouver, WA. In this Q&A, Sanford talks with State of Reform about how workforce shortages are impacting Valley’s work, how the workforce shortage … Read more
The end of the public health emergency (PHE) presents risk to those who received Medicaid coverage throughout the pandemic, but might not be eligible when redeterminations begin again. At our 2022 Utah State of Reform Health Policy Conference, Stephen Foxley, Government Affairs Director of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, sat down with us to discuss … Read more