February 2002 Vol. 18, No. 1
Ortiz Endowment Established
The Arizona College of Public Health has established the
Dr. Augusto and Martha Ortiz Endowment to honor and memorialize
their pioneering work in community and rural health
care over the past five decades in Arizona. In 1972,
the Ortizes moved to Tucson, where Dr. Ortiz joined
the UA College of Medicine faculty and worked at El
Rio Health Center, several rural and urban clinics
and the Rural Health Office. As medical director for
the Rural Health Office, he established the Mobile
Clinic program and a lay health worker training program.
In addition, he teaches health professions students
to understand their obligation to reach out to
under-served communities.
The endowment will be used to continue support and maintenance of the mobile medical unit;
the development of community health programs; new technologies that provide state-of-the-art access
to medical treatments, especially for rural
populations; other programs that improve health care
and community education services; and scholarships
to students in the health professions. For more information, call Kim Gunn, Arizona College of
Public Health development director, 626-5983.
UA Women's Mental Health Program Clinic Opens
The UA Women's Mental Health Program formally opened its doors at AHSC. Directed
by Marlene Freeman, MD, UA Department of Psychiatry, the clinic specializes in mood and
anxiety disorders, "in the context of reproductive
events." Depression and anxiety disorders are more
common in women than in men. Female reproductive hormones, as well as psychological factors,
likely are involved. The clinic will take place
every Wednesday, from 8 to 11 a.m. For clinical care
or more info, call 626-3273.
Arizona Telemedicine Program Receives National Honor
The Arizona Telemedicine Program at AHSC recently received a national award for
providing cost-effective continuing medical
education throughout the state. ATP won a first place award
at the 20th Annual TeleCon Awards for "Best Return
on Investment in e-Learning." The award
recognizes ATP's extensive continuing medical
education program, offered to health professionals
throughout Arizona via the statewide telemedicine network.
UA Study Shows Hispanics at High Risk for Undiagnosed Eye Disease
A first-ever study of the prevalence and causes of eye disease among Mexican-Americans
found that Hispanics over the age of 40 are more likely
to have undiagnosed diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma than other ethnic groups.
Researchers at UA Department of
Ophthalmology surveyed and evaluated vision problems,
such as diabetic retinopathy (disease of the
retina), cataracts, age-related macular degeneration
and glaucoma, among 4,774 Hispanics in Nogales and Tucson.
The three-year study, funded by a $3 million
grant from the National Eye Institute, was called
Proyecto VER (Project Vision, Evaluation,
Research).
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