Peoria-based OSF HealthCare says it has signed a letter of intent with Chicago-based Presence Health to take over Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, and Presence United Samaritans Medical Center in Danville.
Carle Hospital is one of a growing list of hospitals requiring visitors to wear personal protective equipment when they visit patients kept in isolation. Area Presence hospitals - Covenant in Urbana and United Samaritans in Danville - already require the protective gear when visiting patients in isolation.
Residents living near a former manufactured gas plant in Champaign say utility company Ameren "won't lift a finger" to address concerns about toxic vapors in the neighborhood. So those in the 5th and Hill neighborhood have called upon the U.S. EPA, which is offering free inspections to those living in the area. The agency is hosting a public meeting Thursday to sign up those residents.
Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation Thursday requiring all Illinois hospitals to have protocols in place for diagnosing and treating sepsis, which occurs when infection causes the body's immune system to attack tissue and organs. The legislation was nicknamed "Gabby's Law", after a 5-year-old Monticello girl, who died of sepsis after hospital doctors did not check for the condition.
The pilot program currently has about 6,000 patients, not close to what advocates were hoping for at this point. They say there are number of reasons behind that - including the application process, and the state's failure to expand the list of qualifying conditions. Without legislative action, it will expire in January 2018.
