CHAMPAIGN — Following state and national trends, Champaign County is seeing an uptick in drug overdose deaths and homicides. Over the past five years, the number of people who’ve died from a drug overdose — in both Champaign County and the state of Illinois — has roughly doubled. Last year, 52 Champaign County residents died…
Editor’s Note: A prior version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage of Black and Hispanic residents in Champaign County who are fully vaccinated. The correct values are now reported below. CHAMPAIGN- When Dr. Wanda Ward, a University of Illinois employee with SHIELD CU, first heard that COVID-19 vaccines were being rolled out, she says…
Updated June 11, 2021 at 11:30 PM ET In 2019, the Rockville Centre school district in Long Island, N.Y., was shaken by a string of student deaths, including the suicides of a recent graduate and a current student. “When you get these losses, one after the other, you almost can’t get traction on normalcy,” says…
URBANA – The University of Illinois Police Department is planning to increase the number of mental health professionals on staff to help officers respond to crisis calls. Lieutenant Aaron Landers leads UIPD’s community outreach efforts, including the new mental health pilot program, known as Response, Evaluation and Crisis Health, or, REACH. He says the plan…
CHAMPAIGN – Many LGBTQ individuals experience issues such as prejudice and healthcare barriers, contributing to higher rates of mental illness among this community than the general population, according to nurse practitioner Kate Srikant. Individuals often feel isolated, or that healthcare providers don’t understand their struggles, Srikant says. Data from the advocacy group Mental Health America…
August 2023 Editor’s note: The information below was originally reported in June of 2021. Much of it is no longer relevant as the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared over by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 11, 2023. For health questions about COVID-19, call the Illinois Department of Public Health hotline…
DANVILLE – More than 200 jobs sit vacant at the Danville Veterans Affairs facility, mirroring a major staffing shortage at veterans facilities across the nation. Despite recent recruitment efforts at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System in Danville, vacancy numbers have remained the same for years. Tom Hossfeld, the head of human relations, says…
August 2023 Editor’s note: The information below was originally reported in June of 2021. Much of it is no longer relevant as the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared over by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 11, 2023. Updated June 6, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. This is an updated post on…
SPRINGFIELD – As racial disparities in maternal and child health outcomes persist in the U.S., a new statewide initiative aims to promote equity in maternal health and improve outcomes for all women and children. The latest report from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) found that about 75 women in Illinois die from pregnancy-related…
When a woman dies during pregnancy or within a year of childbirth in Illinois, that’s considered a maternal death. Karen Tabb Dina reviews cases like this in the state of Illinois. She’s a maternal health researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who serves on a state-level committee that’s trying to figure out what’s…
COVID-19 vaccination rates are lower in rural counties than in urban counties, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, the vaccination rate among adults in urban counties is 45.7%, but only 38.9% of adults are vaccinated in rural counties. The disparity persists among different age groups and genders….
URBANA — Things haven’t been easy for community theaters in Champaign-Urbana this past year, according to their leaders. Kelly Nowlin, executive director of the Champaign Urbana Theatre Company (or CUTC), said they’ve been unable to do any live shows since they canceled their March 2020 show in the middle of its run. “It was…
CHAMPAIGN — Eight years ago, Terry Maher, a professional bassoonist living in Champaign, was unexpectedly charged a hospital “facility fee” for allergy shots that she had received from her local doctors’ group, Carle Health, every three weeks for years. “I freaked out,” Maher recalled. “I had to pay co-payments on these things and they said…
CHAMPAIGN – People in Champaign and Macon counties are welcome to receive COVID-19 vaccines at clinics in Champaign on Thursday and Decatur on Friday. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District will hold a free walk-in vaccine clinic at Salem Baptist Church in the 5th & Hill Neighborhood of Champaign on Thursday from 2:00 to 6:30 p.m….
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. have reported an increase in their experiences of racism, hostility and outright violence. A recent study from California State University found anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police in major U.S. cities rose 150% last year — even as overall hate crimes dropped 7%. And…