February 2012

Have You Heard? Facts From The Field is a weekly feature from the Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support to provide CDC and the field with facts and news from state, tribal, local and territorial public health agencies. We invite you to read and share this information broadly.

View the Current Have You Heard?

February 29, 2012

San Diego’s commitment to becoming a “Heart Attack and Stroke-free Zone” led to the development of the Be There San Diego campaign.
Minnesota’s HealthPartners [PDF-288KB] members experienced 31% fewer emergency department visits and 17% fewer hospital admissions than did non-members.
Enrollment in Kaiser Permanente's Colorado High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Management Program [PDF-289KB] within 90 days of a heart attack reduced participant’s risk of suffering from a cardiac-related death by 88%.

February 22, 2012

After enrolling in Maryland P³ (Patients, Pharmacists, Partnerships) Program, participants had better blood glucose and blood pressure control, were more likely to get recommended services, and had lower overall costs.
Through the Asheville Project, employees with diabetes who teamed up with their community pharmacists experienced improved blood glucose control, lower total healthcare costs, and fewer sick days.
In the first six months of the Operation Heart program, student pharmacists conducted 601 community events where they screened more than 63,000 individuals for cardiovascular disease risk factors.

February 15, 2012

53 Mass in Motion communities in Massachusetts are promoting healthy diet to residents using the "Choose Less Sodium" [PDF-672KB] media campaign tool.
New York's Schenectady County is giving meals for seniors a low-sodium makeover [PDF-685KB].
Los Angeles County food service and vending contracts are now reviewed by the health department to ensure healthy, affordable food options are available to employees and the community.

February 8, 2012

New Jersey is the first state to mandate critical congenital heart defects screening for newborns.
Florida Department of Health partnered with March of Dimes to develop local level profiles that identify prevention opportunities for congenital heart and other defects.
The Illinois Birth Defect Registry identifies 200 Illinois babies who have been diagnosed with congenital heart defects each year. These babies receive follow-up services from their community health agencies.

February 1, 2012

Partnerships with the FDA and Food Emergency Response Network provided the necessary instrumentation, training, and infrastructure for Colorado's state laboratory to respond rapidly to the 2011 Listeria monocytogenes outbreak.
In 2011, the Texas Department of State Health Services laboratory confirmed that a Mexican face cream contained mercury levels as high as 239 times the FDA limit, leading to a product recall in Mexico.
The New Jersey Public Health and Environment Laboratory significantly reduced the reporting time of influenza test results [PDF-656KB] by implementing an automated, electronic reporting system from the state lab to CDC.