The end of the outbreak comes after nearly six weeks, or two incubation periods, without any new measles cases, according to a news release. The last measles case was reported April 20.

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced plans to reopen the city-run Roseland Mental Health Center by the end of this year, and open two other mental health service sites at the Legler Regional Library on the West Side and at the Chicago Department of Public Health’s Lower West Side vaccine clinic in Pilsen.

A major long-term study launched by the American Cancer Society aims to better understand cancer risk factors and outcomes for Black women in the U.S, who continue to face disparities in cancer prevention, detection, treatment and survival.

The Illinois House gave final approval Saturday to a pair of bills that limit the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage or steer individuals toward lower cost, and sometimes less effective, treatments and medications, strategies sometimes referred to as “utilization management.”

The programs rolled out during the pandemic, providing benefits for immigrant adults and seniors. They offered health coverage for low-income individuals who did not qualify for Medicaid because of their immigration status.

Alcohol is still more widely used, but 2022 was the first time this intensive level of marijuana use overtook daily and near-daily drinking, said the study’s author.

In the middle of Mental Health Awareness Month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton hosted a panel in Springfield at which he pledged to expand the state’s behavioral health services.

Experts reacted cautiously. One described the decline as relatively small, and said it should be thought more as part of a leveling off than a decrease. Another noted that the last time a decline occurred — in 2018 — drug deaths shot up in the years that followed.

“People put me in charge to change course. And what is very clear, I say this with all due humility, people know we are changing course in this city. There should be no doubt in anyone’s minds that we are moving in another direction. I believe people are up for it. And I’m looking forward to the implementation of many of the things that we’ve already put forward.”

Nyla was delivered on Nov. 17 at just 22 weeks after her mother, NaKeya, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a dangerous high-blood pressure condition. 

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted changes to Medicaid requiring states to keep patients continuously enrolled through the public health crisis, even if they might have become ineligible due to changes in their income or family circumstances. That continuous enrollment program expired in March 2023.

Heather Bergdahl faces federal charges after she allegedly worked to steal from Loretto Hospital by sending nearly half a million dollars to businesses that never provided the hospital with goods or services.

The renovations include a four-fold increase in the size of its food pantry, which features new walk-in refrigerators and freezers. The pharmacy was relocated to the first floor for better accessibility, and the community space doubled in size.

Pharmacy benefit managers have received growing scrutiny on both a state and national level for the effect many claim they have on driving up drug prices. Local pharmacy owners testified at recent committee hearings that they are being squeezed through the price of acquiring drugs wholesale and dispensing them.

 Chicago native Sendy L. Soto became  the city’s first chief homelessness officer. Part of her new role will be to devise a five-year plan to end homelessness. 

The vast majority of Alzheimer’s cases occur after age 65. But research published Monday suggests that for people who carry not one but two copies of the gene, it’s more than a risk factor, it’s an underlying cause of the mind-robbing disease.