Facing continuing budget challenges, the department this spring replaced its dental clinic with a voucher program aimed at continuing to offer at least some of the same services to low-income residents. The vouchers, which county officials estimate could save more than $100,000 per year, cover preventive services and up to $350 in pre-emergency care services.

The health district also implemented new regulations regarding the placement of e-cigarettes and vape devices in stores in the unincorporated parts of the county. The nicotine-infused liquids and dispensing devices, which often are marketed in colors and flavors that can appeal to youth, must now be kept behind the counter or in locked display cases.

In November, the district was among those sending out notifications to residents about a positive detection of E. colibacteria in the Doney Park water system. A boil water notice went out to residents on a Sunday, but according to state law, it should have gone out two days earlier, a delay that caused frustration among residents. The notice was rescinded the next day, on Monday, when tests gave the all-clear, but system operators have yet to figure out the cause of the positive detection.

E. coli is one of many pathogens that are the focus of study at Flagstaff’s branch of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen North. The institute has made headway on several fronts this year.

TGen partnered with Northern Arizona University to develop a new genetic-based test for the potentially fatal Valley Fever that takes just an hour and so far has been accurate every time. A similar genetic test has proven promising for detecting Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

The research institute’s work on pathogens often overlaps with that of infectious disease doctor Joel Terriquez, at Flagstaff Medical Center.

Both, for example, are working on the infectious bacteria Clostridium difficile, or C. diff., which causes severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and can be fatal. While TGen is studying how the bacteria are being transmitted around Flagstaff, Terriquez is aiming to cure patients infected with it. This summer he performed FMC’s first fecal matter transplant, a procedure gaining renewed attention by doctors for its ability to cure the most severe cases of C. diff.

In another part of Flagstaff Medical Center, some patients saw big changes after the hospital closed and transferred the rehab and outpatient clinics at its Heart and Vascular Center to Mountain Heart and DeRosa Physical Therapy. While both entities called the partnership a benefit for the community, many patients did not initially share that enthusiasm