Arizona’s Health Department Adds Chief Heat Officer

Following the hottest year on record, complete with a megadrought in Arizona that led to construction restrictions to reserve groundwater around Phoenix, Arizona has added a new chief heat officer to its Department of Health Services.

The officer’s role is to help with extreme heat preparedness in the state. Dr. Eugene Livar, a physician who was formerly the assistant director for public health preparedness for the Department of Health Services, has been chosen for the role. Dr. Livar had helped in developing the Arizona heat preparedness plan in his former role, The Associated Press reported.

Although Phoenix has its own heat officer, Arizona is the first state to bring on a statewide official dedicated specifically to preparing the public for the effects of extreme heat. The position is part of Arizona’s new Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, recently announced by Governor Katie Hobbs and the Governor’s Office of Resiliency Director Maren Mahoney.                            

“What I heard time and again, from everyday Arizonans was that our state’s old approach was not enough,” Hobbs said in a press release. 

“Arizona is no stranger to the heat, yet we have always risen to the challenge, protected our neighbors, and built a sustainable and thriving state. This time will be no different,” she added.

The Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan noted that federal funding from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has been historically allocated in an inequitable way, so Hobbs has requested action to better allocate the funding to help low-income families with weatherization.

The plan has set other short-term goals to reach before summer, including additional support and improvements for cooling centers via a statewide cooling center coordinator. The plan aims to add more cooling centers as well, including six mobile units that use solar power. The state will work toward strengthening power grid resiliency, particularly in rural areas, and providing more information and education on heat-related health outcomes.

For the long-term, the plan outlined several goals for heat preparedness, including growing the workforce specialized in weatherization and energy efficiency, improving heat mitigation design in affordable housing, creating statewide heat-informed community lifelines, building neighborhood Resilience Hubs that offer community support and double as cooling centers, and growing the clean energy economy, among other efforts.

According to the plan, last year included the hottest summer on record for Arizona, which led to a record-high number of heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, The Associated Press reported. The 2023 heat season led to a total of 579 heat-related deaths, as confirmed by Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH). Statewide, there were over 4,000 emergency room visits for heat-related issues.

“It’s critical that Arizona build a sustainable and resilient state,” Mahoney said. “I’m proud to lead this effort across state agencies and in partnership with various sectors, including health and human service providers, the business community, and scientific experts to protect everyday Arizonans and ensure we have the tools we need.”