Latest Health News From The Illinois Newsroom Team
Champaign Head Start is fine for now under government shutdown, but moms worry about food
The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission’s Early Childhood Division Director is concerned about families who participate in the local Head Start program being able to eat.

HIV community faces a double whammy: Medicaid reductions and CDC funding cuts
Public health workers, advocates and patients are bracing for what they describe as a perfect storm, which may undo years of progress in HIV treatment and prevention efforts.

Pritzker signs health care legislation
The bills aim to rein in pharmacy benefit managers and expand insurance coverage.

Hamburgers are safer than hot dogs: Tips for pet care during extreme heat
The ongoing heatwave in the Midwest and eastern U.S. isn’t just deadly for humans, but pets too.

First human case of West Nile Virus found in southern Illinois
The state’s health department says the case marks the earliest known instance of a person in Illinois being infected with West Nile virus since 2016.

How a Sierra Leonean NGO is tackling period poverty in schools
Tens of millions of girls around the world regularly miss school because of their periods. A local NGO in Sierra Leone is using reusable menstrual hygiene kits and sexual and reproductive health education to keep girls in the classroom.

Across the U.S. blood donations decrease in summer
Out of 62% of the population eligible to donate blood in the U.S. only 3% did in 2024.

OSF Healthcare to merge Urbana and Danville hospitals into one system
The organization says the move will expand mental health treatment options and reduce duplication — though some employees say the announcement caught them off guard.

Midwest women may be impacted by Trump’s revocation of emergency abortion guidance
The Trump Administration last week rescinded Biden-era guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions to women when they are necessary to stabilize their medical condition.

Champaign-based Health Alliance plans to end all coverage, eliminating more than 600 jobs
The news comes after Carle Health recently announced that Health Alliance will stop providing all types of coverage at the end of the year.

Five years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some takeaways.
Social distancing, sanitation, and remote work became part of our everyday lives when the COVID-19 Pandemic began in 2020. Five years later, its impacts are still being felt.

A million people in the Midwest could lose Medicaid under federal work requirements
Up to 1 million low income and disabled people across the Midwest could lose their Medicaid health insurance coverage, according to a new analysis.


