IHA Joins Senators Duckworth, Durbin at Healthcare Roundtable
At a recent healthcare roundtable hosted by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), IHA’s Dave Gross, Senior Vice President of Government Relations, joined other Illinois healthcare providers, leaders, and advocates to discuss the impact of H.R. 1 on their hospitals, healthcare workforce, and the patients they serve.
“H.R. 1 represents one of the most significant challenges facing Illinois hospitals and the patients and communities they serve. Many Illinois hospitals are already operating under tremendous financial and workforce pressures, and the Medicaid changes ahead will only intensify those challenges. As people lose coverage, their need for care doesn’t disappear—they will continue to turn to their local hospitals,” said Gross.
“We appreciate Senators Durbin and Duckworth bringing healthcare leaders together for this important conversation about what these changes will mean for access to care across Illinois. IHA is committed to working with our congressional delegation, state leaders, and our hospital community to mitigate these impacts and protect access to care for Illinois patients.”
REMINDER: Webinar on Balancing Human Connection, Technology Sept. 8
Human connection remains essential as adoption of artificial intelligence accelerates throughout healthcare. A complimentary webinar sponsored by Medical Solutions will address the issue from a workforce perspective, highlighting strategies to ensure meaningful connections across care teams and workforce partnerships on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Kerry Sirkka, Chief Recruitment Officer with Medical Solutions, will present the 11 a.m.-noon CT webinar. She’ll discuss:
- Best practices to balance automation with personalized communication during recruitment and in supporting clinicians throughout their careers; and
Strategies to leverage tech-enabled insights while preserving empathy, trust, and meaningful connections.
-
Leaders in human resources, nursing and clinical operations will benefit from the webinar, which is designed for those responsible for workforce strategy, recruitment, retention, clinician engagement, staffing operations, and technology-enabled workforce solutions. Register today.
Staff contact: Bridget McCarte
Apply for the 2027 AHA Dick Davidson NOVA Award
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is now accepting applications through Oct. 8 for the 2027 Dick Davidson NOVA Award, which recognizes hospitals’ achievements in improving community health status in collaboration with other community stakeholders. Five winning organizations will be recognized at the 2027 AHA Healthier Together Conference, May 4-6, in Anaheim, Calif. Click here to apply.
2026 Illinois Bureau of Family Health Conference
The Illinois Dept. of Public Health in partnership with Illinois State University is hosting the 2026 Illinois Bureau of Family Health Conference on Nov. 17-18 in Bloomington-Normal. This event provides an opportunity for healthcare providers in Illinois to come together and receive the most current information regarding various health concerns for women and their families. Among those in attendance will be physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, health educators and public health administrators. The conference will feature a variety of speakers. Participants will have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions addressing the various aspects of family health. Click here for more information, including registration and conference information, and important dates.
Illinois Respiratory Disease Surveillance Data
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
Draeger has issued a letter to affected customers recommending certain VentStar Resus Neo hoses be removed from where they are used or sold because of cases in which obvious cracks in the hose of the VentStar Resus Neo were detected by the users prior to use. If a cracked hose is used, the hose may fall off or leak, resulting in restricted ventilation or delayed therapy which could lead to desaturation, hypoxia, or patient death.
Boston Scientific is recommending all unused Infinion CX Leads be removed from where they are used or sold because the Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) System lead body may experience mechanical stress at the anchor site, resulting in high impedance measurements or lead fractures. Abnormal impedance measurement may lead to inadequate stimulation and/or additional intervention, including lead explant and replacement. This action does not affect the devices that have already been implanted.
Leading the News
Opinion: Community hospitals face brutal economic realities. Service cuts bring stability and survival.
Crain’s Chicago Business
Throughout the U.S., the fragility of community hospitals and the impact of their closures have created a public health emergency. Community hospitals offer a broad range of services with the same fixed costs of large academic medical centers, but across smaller patient volumes. This means they face vastly different operational landscapes.
What COOs are adding to their dashboards
Becker’s Hospital Review
The COO role continues to evolve as health systems grow, adopt new technology and take on increasingly complex operational priorities, underscoring the importance of having the right metrics to track performance and guide decisions.
Large employers drop health benefits as costs rise
AXIOS
Some of the country's largest employers are pulling back on benefits as they face yet another year of near double-digit health care cost growth.
