Health and Medicine

OSF HealthCare is asking the state of Illinois to approve construction of a $237 million regional Comprehensive Cancer Center on its Peoria campus. 

A new report is again sounding the alarm on the impacts of staffing cuts at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Nursing students will be offered a streamlined path to an advanced degree, under a new agreement between Illinois Central College and Illinois State University.

OSF HealthCare said it is terminating its contract with Meridian later this month due to "millions of dollars of outstanding claims" unpaid over the past five years.

OSF HealthCare hospitals, doctor's offices, and home care services will soon no longer accept Medicaid and Medicare patients enrolled in a Meridian-managed plan.

Severe staffing cutbacks are overwhelming the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement efforts. 

The Partnership for a Healthy Community wants to lower the Tri-County suicide rate by 10 percent over the next three years. 

A federal judge has approved a consent decree to close the E.D. Edwards power plant by the end of 2022. 

Most people in Illinois who have insurance through the Affordable Care Act won’t see big changes to their monthly premiums next year, according to a report released this week by the Illinois Department of Insurance.

Retiring state Rep. Mike Unes (R-East Peoria) is UnityPoint's newest executive.

Lawmakers could soon vote on a measure that would make Illinois the second state to cap insulin costs.

The Tazewell County Health Department is partnering with UnityPoint to offer free walk-in mammograms Friday.

Long-acting reversible birth control, like intrauterine devices (IUDs) and arm implants, are considered the most effective contraceptives on the market.

But some patients may have trouble getting access to them.

A proposed bill would require all CBD products sold in Illinois to meet testing requirements that would be developed by the state Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is giving Peoria County $5.6 million to remove dangerous lead paint from homes.

A University of Illinois College of Medicine doctor in Peoria is leading research on reducing the “financial toxicity” of cancer treatment.

Dr. Carl Asche is the director for the Centers for Outcomes Research at UICOMP. He said out-of-pocket repercussions linked to cancer treatment include bankruptcy, drained retirement savings, conditions like depression, and skipped medications and therapies. Asche knows of these hardships first-hand from his wife’s cancer treatments. 

OSF and Caterpillar have only a few days left to come to an agreement on continued hospital and home care coverage for Big Yellow’s employees. 

The 2018 Peoria County Sexually Transmitted Infection Report found chlamydia and gonorrhea rates are 1.5 to 3 times above the Illinois average. Syphilis rates have spiked by 80 percent. 

The past president of the Illinois Association of Addiction Professionals spoke Wednesday in Pekin for a National Recovery Month networking luncheon. 

The FDA is weighing a crackdown on flavored vapes as more people are suffering from respiratory illnesses linked to e-cigarette usage. Seven people are now reported dead, including one from Illinois. 

A group of Illinois Democratic lawmakers want to cap insulin prices at $100 per month.

Tazewell County will be home to one of 40 new dementia care sites in Illinois.

A small but vocal group of local residents came out Tuesday to offer their input to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on new coal ash regulations.

Over the summer, public schools across Illinois received kits designed to help staff members respond in the event of life-threatening injuries. Each kit contains Nitrile gloves, a MicroShield mask, QuikClot bandages, and a tourniquet — just enough supplies to help save one person from bleeding to death. Schools can receive up to five more free kits if they train more staff on a curriculum called STOP the Bleed.

The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program reimburses child care providers for serving up nutritious foods to children in their care. It serves more than 4.2 million U.S. children each day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A Logan County town’s new grocery store may provide a model other rural food deserts can follow. 

At least one person in the Peoria area has been hospitalized after taking what they thought was Xanax, but turned out to be bath salts.

OSF HealthCare employees will have available parking when its new mission headquarters opens in downtown.