13 News Fact Finders talks to Arizonas Chief Heat Officer [Video]

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Summer of 2023 was the hottest on record in Arizona.

We now have six times as many emergency room visits due to heat as we did 15 years ago – and the cost of that is growing fast, too. The Arizona Department of Health Services reports charges for those visits increased from $4.7 million in 2008 to $28 million by 2022.

Now, Arizona has a new tool in the fight against heat – the first of its kind in the nation.

Gov. Katie Hobbs named Dr. Eugene Livar to manage the state’s response. He’s the first “Chief Heat Officer.” If his name sounds familiar, he also helped with our pandemic plan during his years with the health department.

Dr. Livar helped develop Hobbs’ Extreme Heat Plan. Now, he’s in charge of putting it to work.

“It is a little drinking from the fire hose,” Livar said.

There’s a lot to tackle – so where …