Painting a Pandemic

Painting a Pandemic

Pulmonary critical care physician finds solace through art during the Covid-19 pandemic In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic,…

The Mass Grief of 1 Million Lives Lost

The Mass Grief of 1 Million Lives Lost

Taking time and taking stock of Covid-19’s mass grief and trauma Imagine counting every second of every day for the…

Long Covid Alphabet Soup

Long Covid Alphabet Soup

Long Covid comes with a long list of potential side effects — often in acronym form. What do all of…

Covid-19 Long-Haul Clinics Address Neurologic Symptoms

Covid-19 Long-Haul Clinics Address Neurologic Symptoms

Covid-19 clinics provide hope for forgotten patients Westmont resident Sandy Werner, now 54, was living an active life in early…

Assessing Pandemic Risks: How to Make Health Decisions Now

Assessing Pandemic Risks: How to Make Health Decisions Now

The coronavirus arrived like an unwelcome guest two years ago, and since then, people have grown weary of the infectious…

Creating Friendship and Combating Isolation

Creating Friendship and Combating Isolation

Friendship is essential for all of us. But during the pandemic, children with intellectual disabilities have needed friends more than…

Polio, Chickenpox, Measles, Now Covid. It’s Time to Consult History on School Vaccine Mandates

Polio, Chickenpox, Measles, Now Covid. It’s Time to Consult History on School Vaccine Mandates

The rapid spread of omicron across the nation — and the finding that vaccines continue to provide strong protection against…

As Omicron Surges, Here’s What You Need to Know About Covid-19 Testing and Precautions

As Omicron Surges, Here’s What You Need to Know About Covid-19 Testing and Precautions

As omicron transmission soars, it seems like Covid-19 cases are all around us. We can’t get away from them. We…

Hospital Visitor Restrictions Contribute to Patient and Provider Burnout

Hospital Visitor Restrictions Contribute to Patient and Provider Burnout

Above photo Barbara Creed. Courtesy of Northwestern Memorial Hospital Barbara Creed walked into Northwestern Memorial Hospital on April 29, 2020,…

Isolation’s Impacts

Isolation’s Impacts

Helping kids cope with the pandemic’s emotional and behavioral legacy Before the pandemic, Patrick DeFors brought his children, then ages…

The New Normal?

The New Normal?

5 mental health lessons from the pandemic  1. Make changes, but go slow “As we move into a new normal,…

Covid Psychosis

Covid Psychosis

Condition can cause serious, but temporary, psychotic episodes Ben Price, 48, from Morris, Illinois, was a loving husband, father, and a…

Restarting After Covid-19

Restarting After Covid-19

Woodridge residents Bob and Gloria Pluta have spent the majority of their 44-year marriage scrunched into suburbia, surrounded by neighbors,…

Fear of Needles is Common. Here’s How to Work Through the Anxiety

Fear of Needles is Common. Here’s How to Work Through the Anxiety

When Charlie thinks about getting an injection, he shudders. “I am terrified of needles,” says the 45-year-old Pilsen resident, who…

Q&A: How Contagious Is the Covid-19 Delta Variant?

Q&A: How Contagious Is the Covid-19 Delta Variant?

After a spring when it looked like Covid-19 was in retreat, the highly contagious delta variant is surging in the…

Vaccine Hesitation: Blood Clots Pose an Extremely Rare Risk

Vaccine Hesitation: Blood Clots Pose an Extremely Rare Risk

To date, more than 160 million Americans — about half of the U.S. population — have been fully vaccinated against…

A Crisis of Undiagnosed Cancers Is Emerging in the Pandemic’s Second Year

A Crisis of Undiagnosed Cancers Is Emerging in the Pandemic’s Second Year

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Teresa Ruvalcaba lay on a bed in the emergency room of Chicago’s Mount…

When Teen Angst Turns to Pandemic Anxiety and Depression

When Teen Angst Turns to Pandemic Anxiety and Depression

When kids grow into teens, they generally start separating from their parents and spend more time with their peers. But…

Chicago’s Mass Vaccination Sites Are ‘Not Enough’ for Vaccine Equity

Chicago’s Mass Vaccination Sites Are ‘Not Enough’ for Vaccine Equity

Staying up all night. Constantly refreshing the webpage. Trying to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine in Chicago has…

Covid-19 Vaccine Q&A: Chicago Physicians Weigh In

Covid-19 Vaccine Q&A: Chicago Physicians Weigh In

Even though the toll of Americans dying from Covid-19 continues to rise and Chicago specifically is seeing a surge in…

Countering the Stress and Loneliness of Covid-19

Countering the Stress and Loneliness of Covid-19

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the Chicago area, our winter weariness is gradually lifting, but the stress and…

The State of Vaccine Supply: Opaque and Unpredictable

The State of Vaccine Supply: Opaque and Unpredictable

Even as the pace of vaccination against covid-19 has steadily accelerated — hitting an average of 1.3 million doses a…

With Few Takers for Covid Vaccine, Howard University Hospital CEO Takes ‘One for the Team’

With Few Takers for Covid Vaccine, Howard University Hospital CEO Takes ‘One for the Team’

Administrators at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., were thrilled to be among the city’s first hospitals to get a…

Inside the First Chaotic Days of the Effort to Vaccinate America

Inside the First Chaotic Days of the Effort to Vaccinate America

One tray of Covid-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer contains 975 doses — way too many for a rural hospital…

Op-Ed: Overwhelmed Hospitals Face a Covid Surge

Op-Ed: Overwhelmed Hospitals Face a Covid Surge

These days, the majority of patients I see on my shifts in the emergency department are Covid-19 patients. In the…

Supply Is Limited and Distribution Uncertain as Covid Vaccine Rolls Out

Supply Is Limited and Distribution Uncertain as Covid Vaccine Rolls Out

High stakes and big challenges await as the U.S. prepares to roll out vaccines against Covid-19, with front-line healthcare workers…

Demand for Covid Vaccines Expected to Get Heated

Demand for Covid Vaccines Expected to Get Heated

Americans have made no secret of their skepticism of Covid-19 vaccines this year, with fears of political interference and a…

Op-Ed: On Thanksgiving, Let’s Cherish the Holiday, and Each Other, at a Distance

Op-Ed: On Thanksgiving, Let’s Cherish the Holiday, and Each Other, at a Distance

It’s nine months into the pandemic, and with Thanksgiving around the corner, we must stay vigilant to enjoy this treasured…

Homeless Shelters Grapple With Covid Safety as Cold Creeps In

Homeless Shelters Grapple With Covid Safety as Cold Creeps In

Above photo: A sign at a homeless encampment near a Chicago expressway memorializes a man who reportedly died there from…

Health Disinformation Abounds Online, with Content Created to Deceive

Health Disinformation Abounds Online, with Content Created to Deceive

One of the most viral conspiracy news stories in 2019 accused a coordinated group of physicians, federal organizations, and pharmaceutical…

For Each Critically Ill Covid Patient, a Family Is Suffering, Too

For Each Critically Ill Covid Patient, a Family Is Suffering, Too

Above photo: Tisha Holt lives about 10 minutes by car from her parents, Pam and Paul Alexander, who are concerned…

Telemedicine or In-Person Visit? Pros and Cons

Telemedicine or In-Person Visit? Pros and Cons

(Illustration: iStock / Getty Images) As Covid-19 took hold in March, U.S. doctors limited in-person appointments — and many patients…

Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic for People with Anxiety Disorders

Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic for People with Anxiety Disorders

These days, we all have to accept the anxiety inherent in living in the time of the coronavirus pandemic and…

Musicians Improvise Masks for Wind Instruments to Keep the Band Together

Musicians Improvise Masks for Wind Instruments to Keep the Band Together

Above photo: Solomon Keim wears a custom-designed mask during rehearsal at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana.…

Easier-to-Use Coronavirus Saliva Tests Start to Catch on

Easier-to-Use Coronavirus Saliva Tests Start to Catch on

As the coronavirus pandemic broke out across the country, healthcare providers and scientists relied on the standard method for detecting…

Facing Post-Intensive Care Syndrome and After-Effects of Covid-19

Facing Post-Intensive Care Syndrome and After-Effects of Covid-19

Of all his years, 2020 was exceptionally challenging for Vietnam veteran Matthew Thomas. After the 75-year-old Aurora resident tested positive…

Revoking My Corona Pass

Revoking My Corona Pass

Accepting the challenge of the new ‘normal’ What’s the state of your mental health these days? Are you anxious? Depressed?…

Community Helpers

Community Helpers

Providing food, hope, and care during Covid-19 The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has created profound economic and health uncertainties…

Covid-19’s Toll on Mental Health

Covid-19’s Toll on Mental Health

The coronavirus pandemic, with all of its stressors, has triggered anxiety, depression, and other disorders When Covid-19 caused businesses to…

Vulnerable Adults

Vulnerable Adults

These 4 risk factors make older people more prone to Covid-19 complications Shortly after a visit to New York in…

Pregnancy in a Pandemic

Pregnancy in a Pandemic

What to expect when you’re expecting during the coronavirus outbreak Melanie Chervinko was nearing the end of her pregnancy in…

Chicago’s Healthcare Heroes

Chicago’s Healthcare Heroes

A salute to the inspiring individuals who’ve made a difference during the Covid-19 pandemic Covid-19 may have initially shut down…

Disrupted Progress

Disrupted Progress

When Covid-19 shuttered schools and services, children with special needs were left behind With interruptions to school and socialization, the…

Briefs: Does Vitamin D Impact Covid-19 Death Rates?

Briefs: Does Vitamin D Impact Covid-19 Death Rates?

Patients from countries with high Covid-19 death rates have lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients in lower-risk countries,…

Briefs: Circles of Peace During Covid-19

Briefs: Circles of Peace During Covid-19

After Covid-19 hit Chicago, the staff at the Union League Boys & Girls Club saw youth mourning life as they…

Making Gyms Safer in the Age of Covid-19

Making Gyms Safer in the Age of Covid-19

After shutting down in the spring, America’s empty gyms are beckoning a cautious public back for a workout. To reassure…

Gasping for Air

Gasping for Air

With a cascade of effects, Covid-19 can cause lasting lung damage The phone call came Monday morning, but by then,…

Cancer and Covid-19

Cancer and Covid-19

While individuals are at greater risk, treatment and screening must continue Robyn Hawkins is not an anxious person. “But this…

Beware Crooked Contact Tracers, Covid-19 Fraud

Beware Crooked Contact Tracers, Covid-19 Fraud

As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads to communities throughout the U.S., the epidemic of coronavirus-related fraud continues unabated. What to watch…

The Great Unequalizer

The Great Unequalizer

Chicago faced severe health inequities long before Covid-19. Whose job is it to solve the problem? It was probably the…