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Show Health Needs Planning Council Named in Four Corners Area Health . professionals and interested citizens from 15 counties in New Mexico, Arizona, Ari-zona, Colorado and Utah have formed a planning committee designed to meet special health needs of the Four Corners Cor-ners area. Tlie Four Corners Areawida Comprehensive Health Planning Plan-ning Committee has offices at the Four Corners Regional Commission headquarters in Farmington, N.M. A health planning coordinator, coordin-ator, James Hurley, has been hired to staff committee activities acti-vities and develop an organizational organi-zational structure for areawide comprehensive health planning. plan-ning. Hurley, who holds a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan, has more than 20 years experience in the public pub-lic health field. The impetus and initial financial fin-ancial support behind the formation for-mation of the Committee has come from interested citizens residing in the Four Corners area and from Comprehensive Health Planning agencies and Regional Medical Programs serving the four states. An interim policy-making board includes representatives from the four state CHP's, the four RMP's (New Mexico, Arizona, Intermountain, and Colorado - Wyoming), threa Indian Area Health Advisory Councils, three Service Areas of the Indian Health Service, and three regional offices of the Dept. of Healtt Education, Educa-tion, and Welfare. Leon H. Berger, executive director of the Northern Arizona Ari-zona Development Council, is serving as chairman of the committee. The committee has drawn up a resolution proposing that it become officially recognized recogniz-ed as the Health Advisory Council for the Federally funded Four Corners Regional Commission. Such a Health Advisory Board could serve as a coordinating mechanism for RMP and CHP agencies where health problems cross state lines. The Four Corners Regional Re-gional Commission will consider con-sider the resolution at its next meeting, Oct. 13, in Phoenix. The 15 counties could also pool resources to improve the overall health care delivery-system delivery-system in an area characterized character-ized by large geographic expanses, ex-panses, sparse population, transportation difficulties, and economic dependence. Health problems to be dealt with in the area include emergency medical services, inter- and intra-state communications, commun-ications, preventive medical care, environmental health hazards, health manpower development de-velopment and utilization, health education, patient transportation, tran-sportation, and migrant health. Counties included from the four - state area are: San Juan and McKinley, New Mexico; Mex-ico; Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo Nav-ajo and Apache, Arizona; Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan, Utah; and Dolores, San Juan, Montezuma and La Plata, Colorado. The next meeting of the Health Planning Committee is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., Oct. 16, at the San Juan Hospital Hos-pital in Farmington, N.M. |