TOMORROW: Learn How Your Hospital Can Earn Stewardship Recognition
Elevate your hospital’s antimicrobial stewardship success by learning directly from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) about the Acute Care Antimicrobial Stewardship Honor Roll. This recognition program celebrates hospitals that demonstrate excellence in antimicrobial stewardship—and your hospital can be one of them.
 
Click here to register for the complimentary webinar tomorrow, March 19, from noon -1 p.m. CT. The program, “Pathways to Recognition: IDPH’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Honor Roll,” will:

• Describe the IDPH Acute Care Antimicrobial Stewardship Honor Roll Program

• Identify the benefits of hospital participation in the Honor Roll 

• Explain the key steps and timeline for the upcoming application cycle

Please share the registration information with your colleagues responsible for the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship initiatives.  

For questions, email QualityPatientSafety@team-iha.org.

Reminder: AHA Room Block Rate Ends Today—Register Now for IHA Federal Advocacy Day & AHA Annual Meeting
Today is the final day to secure the discounted room rate for the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Membership Meeting, taking place April 19-21 in Washington, D.C. at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC. Click here to register. You must be registered for the AHA Annual Membership Meeting to receive the negotiated AHA rate at the Marriott Marquis. 

We strongly encourage hospital and health system leaders to book accommodations now and plan to participate in both the AHA Annual Meeting and IHA’s Federal Advocacy Day. Held in coordination with the AHA meeting, IHA’s Federal Advocacy Day offers a critical opportunity for Illinois hospital leaders to engage directly with members of the Illinois Congressional delegation and elevate key federal priorities impacting patient care and hospital operations.

IHA will host the following events for members:

• Monday, April 20, 6 p.m. ET — Happy Hour and Private Dinner at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

• Tuesday, April 21, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. ET — Meetings on Capitol Hill

Please click here to complete the registration form for IHA’s events. Registration is only available online, and there is no cost to attend IHA activities.

Together, the AHA Annual Membership Meeting and IHA Federal Advocacy Day provide a powerful, coordinated platform for Illinois hospital leaders to connect with peers from across the country, engage in national policy discussions, and advocate for the issues that matter most to your hospitals, workforce, and communities.

Staff contact: Jennifer Koehler

Funding Opportunity to Support AOT for Adults with Serious Mental Illness
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has posted a Notice of Funding Opportunity offering eligible applicants between $500,000 and $750,000 per year for up to five years to support Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for adults with serious mental illness. It is anticipated 11 to 16 awards will be granted.

Recipients are expected to implement an AOT program, working with civil courts, community partners, and other entities to support community-based treatment for adults with serious mental illness who meet AOT eligibility criteria. The program aims to reduce the incidence or duration of psychiatric hospitalizations, homelessness, and criminal justice involvement for individuals with serious mental illness.

Eligibility is statutorily limited to counties, cities, mental health systems (including mental health authorities), mental health courts, or any other entities with authority under the law of the State in which the applicant is located to implement, monitor, and oversee assisted outpatient programs. Applications are due April 20.

CMS to Transition to Centralized Platform to Manage IDR Operations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced a planned transition to a new platform to manage federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) operations related to the No Surprises Act. Later this year, CMS will move from single-use web forms to the IDR Gateway platform. The agency said the secure, centralized platform will allow users to start and respond to disputes; access dispute dashboards and reports associated with their organization; track dispute information, including disputes assigned to a certified IDR entity; monitor assigned disputes by process phase; and review notifications regarding dispute activity. CMS said the platform would also include new security features, including identity verification processes and protocols that would permit only U.S.-based users to access the federal IDR process.

Virtual Event to Focus on Cyber Incident Response and Recovery
The Health Sector Coordinating Council Cyber Working Group and Health-ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center) will host a joint cybersecurity event July 21-22 for healthcare and public health entities focusing on cyber incident response and recovery. Discussions will be held on collective impact, coordination, shared resources and how information flows when cyber incidents occur. A public report will be shared following the event that summarizes shared understanding and outcomes.

The Infectious Respiratory Disease Surveillance Dashboard from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) provides the latest data on hospital visits, seasonal trends, lab test positivity and demographic data. IDPH also tracks COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus information through the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard.

Briefly Noted

Intuitive Surgical is recommending certain curved-tip staplers be removed from where they are used or sold due to reported instances of incomplete staple lines that result in tissue being surgically cut and the contents of the cut vessel becoming fully exposed, causing bleeding that may require conversion to an open surgical technique. As of Feb. 23, Intuitive Surgical has reported four serious injuries and one death associated with this issue.

Additionally, Insulent is instructing affected customers to discontinue the use of certain Omnipod 5 Pods and for the devices to be removed from where they are used or sold. Certain lots of Pods may have a small tear in the internal tubing that delivers insulin, and if insulin is not properly delivered, users may experience high blood glucose levels due to under-delivery of insulin. As of March 12, Insulet has reported 18 serious injuries and no deaths associated with this issue.

Leading the News

Stratton defeats Krishnamoorthi with help from Chicago, downstate voters

Capitol News Illinois

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton rode a late wave of momentum to win the Democratic nomination for Illinois’ open U.S. Senate seat, toppling longtime frontrunner Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi with the financial aid and political muscle of Gov. JB Pritzker and an outsider message that set her apart from her rivals with Washington experience.

Who won the Illinois primary election? Latest results, and which races remain too close to call

NBC 5

Illinois politics will look different after Tuesday’s 2026 Primary Election, with new nominees for five Congressional seats, a U.S. Senate seat and the comptroller’s offices come November.

How 3 hospitals are bringing nurses back to the bedside

Becker’s Hospital Review

A rising demand for adequate nurse staffing is pushing some hospitals to expand their recruitment strategies to nurses who had left the bedside. Deana Sievert, DNP, MSN, RN. Senior Vice President and CNO at Rush University Medical Center (Chicago): We see tremendous value in recruiting nurses who left the bedside and helping them get back to caring for patients again.