Pandemic inequities and how health care systems contribute to them are the focus of the latest selection in our “Black Voices Book Club” series, “The Emergency: A year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER.”

Six months ago, Chicagoan Albert Khoury underwent a double lung transplant to treat stage 4 lung cancer. Today, he has no signs of cancer. The success of the surgery, a first for Northwestern Medicine, “provides new hope for lung cancer patients at Northwestern Medicine,” said surgeon Dr. Ankit Bharat.

The National Institutes of Health released the data on Thursday to help researchers start unraveling how people’s genes, environments and lifestyles interact to drive their health. And half the study’s participants are from racial and ethnic groups historically left out of medical research.

West Garfield Park residents have a life expectancy of 69 years – one of the lowest in the city. The Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative aims to change that by creating an environment that promotes health and wellness in the neighborhood.

A new study from Verywell Health has found that Black patients often have a different medical experience than White patients due to discrimination and inequities in health care settings.  

University of Chicago Medicine has proposed building a $633 million cancer center in hopes of addressing health inequities on the South Side, while also easing some of the medical center’s capacity constraints.

As dentists across Illinois experience staffing shortages and an increased demand for dental appointments, they are asking state officials to consider teledentistry and other services to help fill the demand. 

According to CDC data, Illinois saw its highest-ever case rate for nursing home residents this month, surpassing even last winter’s surge. Cases among staff have also reached record levels. 

It’ll be easier to access birth control in Illinois, courtesy of a new law that allows pharmacists to dispense hormonal contraception without a doctor’s prescription.

Overwhelmed by an influx of patients suffering from COVID-19, hospital administrators offered guidance on when people should head to the emergency room.

The majority of hospitalizations in Chicago continue to be among those unvaccinated, but health officials advised everyone take precautions.

Decades ago, the state of Illinois outlawed midwifery. Now the state’s in the process of changing course with a new law signed Tuesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

After COVID-19 outbreaks earlier in the pandemic, officials say the situation has improved at state-run veterans’ homes, which are only about half full. Admissions are slower than usual because of the pandemic, according to officials.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights recently announced the launch of its Immigrant Health Academy. It will train community leaders in suburban areas with high immigrant populations to inform immigrants about their health care rights and correct misconceptions about access to care.

A new report says we collectively understand women’s health far less than men’s health. That’s because just a fraction of research funds to study things like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and autoimmune disease go toward studying women -- even though they disproportionately face those diseases.

Doctors have long recommended daily low-dose aspirin for many patients who already have had a heart attack or stroke. The task force guidance does not change that advice.