61 Arizonans Honored for Raising Immunization Rates, Saving Lives

 
PHOENIX - May 2, 2013 - PRLog -- The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI) honored 61 individuals, organizations, and initiatives during the 17th Annual Arizona Big Shots awards dinner held on April 17, 2013 at the Phoenix Country Club. Over 325 people attended the event.

Jim McPherson, a board member of TAPI since the organization’s inception in 1992, served as Master of Ceremonies. Presenting the awards were Debbie McCune Davis, executive director of TAPI and Arizona state representative; A.D. Jacobson, MD, board chair of TAPI; Machrina Leach, RN, nurse manager with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health; Dale Guthrie, MD, president of the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and Will Humble, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Keynote speaker was Leslie Mikkelsen, MPH, RD, Managing Director of the Prevention Institute based in Oakland, California. Ms. Mikkelsen spoke on “A 21st Century Approach to Health: Integrating Clinical Care and Community-Level Prevention.”

Recipients of 2013 Arizona Big Shots Awards (by category):

Long Shots:
Legislation, regulation, or public policy that has helped reduce the barriers to immunizations to improve the ability to account for the immunizations of Arizona’s population.

• Banner Health

Spot Shots: Outstanding media coverage to educate the public about the value of immunization as a preventive health strategy.

• Stephanie Innes and Rob O’Dell, Arizona Daily Star
• Christopher Leone, Arizona Capitol Times
• Linda Valdez, The Arizona Republic
• Danielle Verbrigghe, Cronkite News Service

Snap Shots: Special event partnerships that educate, promote, and provide immunizations to Arizona children.

• Arizona Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Advisory Committee

Buck Shots: Outstanding communication programs to educate the public and health care providers about immunizations.

• Navajo County Public Health (Show Low)
• Yavapai County Community Health Services

Hot Shots: Going beyond the call of duty to the cause of increasing immunizations.

• Larissa Dvorak, Mesa Fire Department
• Milagros Gonzalez, MD
• Doris Powers, RN
• University of Arizona College of Public Health

Up Shots: Individuals or organizations new to the immunization effort, but show a commitment to improving the health and wellness of Arizonans. This award is presented in memory of Andrea Fadok, a young and energetic immunization advocate who was killed in a car accident in the summer of 2000.

• Arizona Autism Coalition
• Arizona Partnership Against Pertussis

Recipients of 2013 Daniel T. Cloud Outstanding Practice Awards

In addition, 42 healthcare practices that achieved a minimum 90 percent coverage level of their two-year-old patients (4 DTaP, 3 Polio, 1 MMR, 3 Hib, 3 Hep B, and 1 Varicella) and teen patients (1 Tdap and 1 MCV4) received the Daniel T. Cloud Outstanding Practice Award. A pediatric surgeon by profession, Dr. Cloud served as Chief of Surgery at Arizona Crippled Children's Hospital and Chief of Staff at Good Samaritan Hospital. In 1981 he was elected to a one-year term as president of the American Medical Association. He served as TAPI’s board chair since its inception in 1993 until his death in 2010.

This year’s Cloud honorees for toddlers:

• Adelante Healthcare (Buckeye, Mesa, Phoenix, Surprise, Wickenburg)
• Canyonlands (Lake Powell Medical Center)
• CIGNA (Chandler, Deer Valley, South Mountain, Stapley)
• Gateway Pediatrics
• La Paz County Health Department
• Mountain Park (Baseline, East, Goodyear, Maryvale, Tempe)
• Navajo County Health Department
• Pinal County Health Department (Casa Grande, Coolidge)
• Providence General Medicine & Pediatrics
• Sun Life Center for Women and Children
• Sun Life Family Health Center (Eloy)
• Sunset Community Health Center (Somerton, Yuma)

This year’s Cloud honorees for teenagers:

• Adelante (Gila Bend)
• Arrowhead Pediatrics (Glendale, Sun City)
• Canyonlands (Safford Clinic)
• Casa Grande Pediatrics
• CIGNA (Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Tempe)
• Desert Shores Pediatrics (Chandler, Gilbert)
• North Country (Lake Havasu City)
• Phoenix Indian Medical Center
• Renaissance Family Medical Center
• Sunrise Pediatrics
• Sunset Community Health Center (Somerton, Yuma)
• Yavapai County Community Health Services

Other Recognitions

• Recipient of the second annual U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Immunization Champion Award for the state of Arizona was Andrea Houfek, MD, an outstanding immunization advocate in her role as medical director of primary care and pediatrics for CIGNA Medical Group and TAPI steering committee member for 10 years.

• Emma McCune, Sunnyslope High School junior and photographer, was presented a $250 scholarship check for the photo artwork she created for the Daniel T. Cloud Outstanding Practice Teenager Category Award.

• Patricia Gast, office chief of the Arizona Department of Health Services Arizona Immunization Program, and Jennifer Tinney, program manager at TAPI, were thanked for their many years of service. Patricia is retiring from her position in state government and Jennifer and her family are moving out of state. Both will remain active in immunization efforts and promotion.

Event sponsors include: Adelante HealthCare, Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, American Academy of Pediatrics (Arizona Chapter), Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona Medical Association, Banner Hospitals, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, CIGNA Medical Group, Gateway Pediatrics, Health Choice, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Mountain Park Health Center, Novartis Vaccines, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, sanofi pasteur, Scientific Technology Corporation, and United HealthCare Community Plan.

About TAPI

The Arizona Partnership for Immunization (TAPI) is a non-profit statewide coalition of over 400 members. TAPI was formed in response to the alarming fact that in 1993, only 43 percent of Arizona’s two-year-olds were fully immunized against preventable childhood diseases like measles, mumps, polio, and whooping cough. Through the efforts of TAPI’s partners in the public and private sectors, immunization coverage rates in Arizona have improved dramatically, with 70 percent of children fully immunized by age two. Unfortunately, the problem never ends. Each year in Arizona almost 90,000 babies are born, and none arrive immunized. For more information, visit http://www.whyimmunize.org
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