A new state health report pinpoints racism as a public health crisis while also noting Illinois needs to improve in the areas of maternal and infant health, mental health and substance use disorders.

According to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless’ recent report, which just became available in Spanish, an estimated 68,000 people are homeless in Chicago.

Winter in Chicago can be brutal, and it can be even worse for those experiencing homelessness. A Latino Muslim organization is coming together to help those in need on the city’s Southwest Side.

A group of fed-up residents from a Rogers Park apartment building showed up at the property’s management company Wednesday to announce they’d formed a tenants association. It’s part of what organizers said is a resurgent tenants union movement.

While the public health emergency is officially over, COVID-19 is still making people sick, and health officials say they’ve entered a new front.

It’s the second time Howard Brown Health Workers United has taken to the picket line this year. The first strike in January was largely over 61 unionized workers being laid off as management pointed to drastic budget shortfalls.

The name of the practice is debated — “medical aid in dying” to some, and “physician-assisted suicide” to others. Either way, advocates are hoping the issue comes up in Springfield soon.

Dr. Olusimbo “Simbo” Ige will now be asked to deliver on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s vision of public health for Chicago — while coping with the continuing pandemic.

There are still more than 3,000 migrants living in or around Chicago’s police stations and airports. As the city struggles with how to find temporary shelter for everyone, Mayor Brandon Johnson has called on places of worship to assist.

According to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, one in five households in the Chicago area is facing food insecurity. A national report found that 17 million households were food insecure at some point in 2022.

U.S. public health officials are calling for urgent action to curb an alarming increase in the number of babies born with syphilis. In infants, syphilis can be a severe, disabling and sometimes life-threatening infection.

Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said manufacturers, who are making the immunization for the first time, underestimated demand.

The study compares firearm injury emergency department visits for kids at nine urban hospitals across the U.S. before and during the pandemic.

Chicago’s temperatures are dropping. This brings a new set of challenges for the more than 2,800 migrants living at police stations — most of whom have never experienced a Chicago winter.

Using sidewalks as exam rooms and heavy red duffle bags as medical supply closets, volunteer medics spend their Saturdays caring for the growing number of migrants arriving in Chicago without a place to live.

Their mission was to pass out flyers with information about an upcoming COVID-19 and flu vaccination clinic at Richard J. Daley Community College on the Southwest Side.