Terry Bishop

Tucson Medical Center, a 609 bed facility in a campus like setting on the east part of town, is best known for its women's and children's services.

A survey of the classes offered for pre natal and post natal care indicate classes and information are in both Spanish and English. Programs are available for Dads and Moms, as well as big brother and/or big sister classes. Red Cross babysitting classes for young people 11years to 15 years are offered. Classes about childbirth, breathing, relaxation, vaginal birth and cesarean sections help the parents to be understand the process of birthing.

Tucson MedicalCenter was designated as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence (COE) facility, according to the 2006-2007 Neuroscience Center of Excellence Survey, sponsored by Chicago-based NeuStrategy Inc.

Two neuroscience operating rooms plus a 37 bed department are available for neurological services which also includes an eight bed intensive observation unit. Sleep diagnosis is offered as well as neurologic and neuromuscular diagnosis and treatment. Neurological problems can occur from brain tumors, epilesy, strokes, and seizure. Advanced training for registered nurses is available in the neurological department through the neurosciene internship program.

Behavioral disorders are handled by Palo Verde Hospital, an adjuct facility of Tucson Medical Center. Emergency crisis care combined with a plan for treatment is designed to return patients to the community as soon as possible. The staff includes psychiatrists, physicians, nurse practioners, nurses, and behavioral health clinicians.

Tucson Medical Center, originally on the very outlying area of Tucson, was originally established, like many Tucson hospitals, as a facility to treat tuberculosis. Tucson's sunshine and warm climate was considered a benefit to the TB patient. TMC, like many other facilities in Tucson, is now in the process of expanding.

Tucson Medical Center:

https://www.tmcaz.com/

Employment Opportunities:

https://www.tmcaz.com/?q=WorkingatTMC

Classes available:

https://www.tmcaz.com/?q=TucsonMedicalCenter/Maternity/Classes-Groups

University Medical Center, or UMC as it is called in Tucson, is the teaching hospital for the University of Arizona. It is also home to one of the best nursing colleges in the nation, University of Arizona School of Nursing as well as the School of Pharmacy. It is the largest research hospital in Arizona for the School of Nursing, the School of Medicine, and the School of Pharmacy.

UMC is the major Level 1 trauma hospital for southern Arizona and takes patients from all of Southern Arizona, western New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. It ranks as a top hospital for patient survival and shortness of stay. It also participates in the Southern Arizona telemedicine program which helps to save lives daily.

Home of Cardio-West, UMC is the site of the first FDA approved artificial heart. The cardiology department houses the Sarver Heart Center which is involved in research designed to pinpoint stroke and heart attack causes and prevention. UMC has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States for cardiovascular care.

Transplant surgery is a speciality of UMC and includes simultaneous heart and lung transplants as well as heart transplants and lung transplants. Liver transplants, kindney and pancreas transplants as well as intestine transplants and islet cell transplants for diabetic patients are among the procedures offered at UMC.

Currently under construction is the Diamond Children's Medical Center which will be a model for pediatric care. The Steele Children's Research Center currently has more than 100 research projects in progress which benefit the pediatric patient.

UMC also has a variety of community outreach programs as well as health and wellness programs. Programs can be accessed at http://www.azumc.com/body.cfm?id=31&action=list

UMC is a 355 bed facility located at 1501 North Cambell Avenue in the center of the city between Grant and Speedway. It is a non profit hosptial and also supports the Cancer Center which will be discussed tomorrow.

For addiitional information about University Medical Center including job opportunities, check the resources listed below.

Unversity Medical Center:

http://www.azumc.com/body.cfm?id=20

Desert Health tips - Information about living in the desert:

http://www.azumc.com/body.cfm?id=42

Nursing, Medical School, and Pharmacology Research:

http://www.azumc.com/body.cfm?id=22

University Medical Center Job Opportunities:

http://www.umcarizona.org/body.cfm?id=583

The average sales price of homes rose from $217,397 in September to $226,435 in October, an increase of more than $9,000. By comparison, the average home price in October 2007 was $259,557, representing an annual decrease of 12.76%.

The number of homes sold during October (823) decreased by 111 units from September (934) while the sales volume decreased by 8.22% from $203,048,605 in September to $186,456,109 in October. This is a reduction of more than $16,500,000.

It is believed many potential home buyers stayed on the sidelines during September and October waiting until November 4 when the Presidential election would be decided by the American public. Constant political rhetoric about the economy for all levels of political races, put the "economy" front and center in the minds of potential home buyers, and that factor, combined with the swings in the stock market, put a damper on home buying.

Once November 5 came, the day after the election, there appeared to be more interest by buyers looking at homes. We are swinging into holiday season, a time of the year when buyers and sellers tend to put their plans on hold until after the first of the new year. But with the new programs announced by the Government regarding re-working existing home loans, additional inventory may be taken off the market and help stabilize the market.

We are also now entering the period of time when winter visitors arrive in sunny Tucson, and many look at purchasing second homes tp get away from the snow and sleet of the northern states. Canadians are also buyers in this market.

Pending contract decrease by 9.69% to 755 units from 836 in September and the active listings increased by 1.65% to 7,988 from 7,858. Inventory has decreased by 1,325 units from last year. New listings decreased by 7 units from 2,039 in September to 2,032 in October.

The median sales prices of homes sold in October decreased only $500 to $180,000 from $180,500 in September. In October 2007, the median sales price was $30,000 more at $210,000.

The following is a breakout by zip code of active listings and those sold within each area. A full 13 page breakout of these numbers is available by clicking on the "Resource" below.

Resources:

Tucson Association of Realtors - October Statistics, In Depth Report

http://www.tucsonrealtors.org/tar-v2/stats_october.pdf

I wrote this article this morning for my blog at: http://www.terrybishop.com

Northwest Medical Center, the new hospital located at 1551 East Tangerine Road, fills a large void in the medical landscape of northwest Tucson. The new hospital serves the retirement population of Oro Valley and Saddlebrook. It is a state of the art facility and its inpatient rehabilitation facility ranks within the top 10% of such facilities nationwide.

The hospital, only three years old, is already undergoing expansion to make room for a new 25,000 square foot cardiac center in response to the needs of the community.

Like it's sister facility, Northwest Hospital on La Cholla, Northwest Medical offers many of the same primary services, but obviously, because of the population served, does not offer the birthing center or new mothers programs. Instead, the hospital offers podiatry, urology, inpatient rehabilitation, and orthopedics services which are better suited to an active adult population.

Northwest, both at La Cholla and Oro Valley, provides support groups and offers the Senior Circle, a program dedicated to people 50 years and older that provides information about nutrition and exercise. Discounts for prescriptions and eyewear, and various services in the Tucson area are included in the membership. Membership for one year for one person is $15.00 but multiple year and multiple person memberships are available at reduced rates.

The Oro Valley Facility provides Community Education which includes a "Commit to Be Fit" program. Nutrition and exercise is designed to help people lead a healthy lifestyle. Tobacco cessesation programs for the public are offered as well as programs regarding heart health.

The web pages for the Oro Valley facility and the La Cholla Facility are user friendly and offer a wealth of health information in the "Health Library". Information about various diseases and symptons, what to expect when one goes for certain tests, information about nutrition, a diet, weight, and stress management program, and a virtual tour of the anatomy are on line. There is also a sympton manager in the Health Library.

Northwest at both Oro Valley and La Cholla, have positions which must be filled and information regarding job application is also on the web site.

Resources:

Health Library:

http://nwmcov.discoveryhospital.com/

Northwest Medical Center Oro Valley:

http://www.nmcorovalley.com/index.php

This is part of a series of articles about medical facilities in Tucson Arizona for my web page blog at

http://www.terrybishop.com

We all want to save money, and especially when traveling, saving money is an added bonus! The Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau has just issued the new PASSPORT, a mock Passport with two for one savings to various venues within Tucson.

For anyone coming to Tucson, a stop at the Convention and Visitor's Bureau on Church Street in the downtown area, is a must. The volunteers are extremely knowledgable and the racks are filled with all types of brochures for jeep tours, restaurants, places to stay, dude ranches, theaters, you name it! Some have coupons attached.

But by far, the best deal is the Tucson PASSPORT. There is not a better deal for $15.00. The Passport contains two for one coupons for the Arts including the Tucson Museum of Art, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Fox Theater, the Arizona Opera, the Arizona Theater Company and more.

Old Tucson Studios, where John Wayne made many a movie has a "twofer" in the Family Fun and Shopping Sections. Tucson Children's Museum is a delightful and educational place to take children. Many of the shopping centers have coupons which encourage shoppers to receive a bonus book of coupons for that particular mall, or other types of incentives.

The rich history of Tucson is also "on sale" with "twofers" to Arizona State Museum, the History Museum, the Mining Museums, and historical places in Tombstone and Bisbee. And for nature lovers, the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum cannot be missed, nor the Sabino Canyon Recreational area. T'ohono Chul Park and the Tucson Botanical Gardens are interesting and educational because Tucson gardening is so different than other areas of the country. People who enjoy gardening should star these stops.

The Sciences are also represented with tickets to Kitt Peak National Observatory (see Weekend Wanderings September 15), Flandrau Science Center and Planatarium, the Pima Air and Space Museum, a favorite especially for people who like flying, and the Titan Missle Museum.

Team up the Tucson Passport with the Tucson Entertainment Book which contains coupons for restaurants, rental cars, dry cleaning, and even airline tickets, and you'll have a winning combination to save money on your fabulous trip to Tucson! Making your money go twice as far allows you to do twice as many things!

Information about the Tucson Passport is listed below as is information on how to obtain an Entertainment Book.

Tucson Passport:

http://www.visittucson.org/visitor/attractions/passport/

Tucson Entertainment Book:

http://emol.org/entertainmentbook/tucson.html

http://www.entertainment-savings-offers.com/tucson/book/

This is taken from my blog this morning at: http://www.terrybishop.com