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 ER, these patients range from people with mild fevers and slight Covid cough to people who are struggling to breathe, some of whom we put into a medically induced coma, intubate, and place on a […]
Op-Ed: Broken Safety Net Leaves Patients Stranded in Emergency Department
Chicago Health is committed to publishing a diversity of opinions. The opinions expressed in this op-ed article are the author’s own. If you were to recently set foot in our moderate-sized, urban community emergency department (ED), you might notice a pale, awkward, endearingly giggly teenage boy sitting next to the nursing station. He may have […]
Amid Surge, Hospitals Hesitate to Cancel Nonemergency Surgeries
Three months ago, the nation watched as COVID-19 patients overwhelmed New York City’s intensive care units, forcing some of its hospitals to convert cafeterias into wards and pitch tents in parking lots. Hospitals elsewhere prepped for a similar surge: They cleared beds, stockpiled scarce protective equipment, and — voluntarily or under government orders — temporarily […]
Coronavirus Pushes Hospitals to Share Information About Stocks of Protective Gear
Above photo: Tom Cooper, Nashville General Hospital’s supply chain director, inspects a box of N95 respirators. The hospital is among a small group of pilot sites now sharing data about the inventory of its protective equipment with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Blake Farmer/WPLN) Masks, gloves and other equipment are crucial as healthcare […]
Find hospitals that score high before you check in
By Eleanor Laise, Kiplinger Retirement Report Choosing a good hospital shouldn’t seem all that difficult. If you’re facing surgery or another procedure, you can seek the advice of your doctor, family and friends. But consumers who want to dig deeper — delving into hospitals’ quality, safety and affordability — can quickly become confused and concerned. […]
Everywhere, hospitals are merging, but why should you care?
By Gregory Curfman, M.D. Harvard Health Blog All across America, hospitals are merging. In 2014 alone, there were 95 mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures among U.S. hospitals, down only slightly from 98 in 2013. What’s fueling this strong trend toward hospital consolidation — and more importantly, why should you, as a consumer of health care, […]
Hospitals: Hazardous to Your Health?
One in 25 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC offers these recommendations to help minimize your risk: 1. Keep hands clean: Be sure everyone who comes in contact with you washes their hands with soap. 2. Know the signs of infection: […]
Bedside Manner Matters
Hospitals recognize that patient care is more than medicine By Eric Warner In May 2013, I headed to St. Louis to visit my mom. But instead of going to the house where I grew up, I visited her in the cardiac intensive care unit of Mercy Hospital St. Louis. After a concerning echocardiogram, she had […]
Chicago Ranks at the Top of the Nation’s Worst Readmissions Rates
By David Himmel In most businesses, a strong and frequent returning-customer base is a sure sign of long-standing success. But hospitals aren’t like most businesses. A hospital wants as few returning customers—or readmissions—as possible. Unfortunately, according to Medicare’s latest report on hospital readmissions rates, Chicago sits at the top of the heap, with 19 hospitals […]
Northwestern and Cadence Announce Intent to Merger
Officials at Cadence Health and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare (NMHC) are in talks to form “an integrated academic healthcare delivery system,” according to an announcement made yesterday. No details are available yet as to when the specific discussions will begin. It is anticipated that, upon merger, the new health system will operate as Northwestern Medicine with […]
Being Cared For
Above photo: Daniel Johnson, MD, Comer Children’s Hospital at The University of Chicago Medicine Chicago boasts several nationally leading pediatric hospitals thanks to a holistic approach to healing By Rhonda Alexander Everyone needs healthcare, and for children—especially those with acute or chronic illnesses—reliable, quality holistic healthcare can mean the difference between simply managing […]
Indie Docs Versus the Networks
The pros and cons of hospital groups and independent physicians comes down to groups of independent patients By Tom Mullaney Roughly 30 years ago, choosing a doctor was fairly simple. It was either the family doctor, one recommended by a friend or the physician closest to home. Today, it seems that patients now confront a […]
Access to Care
In a shifting healthcare landscape, where do you find the best and most practical care? And how in the world do you pay for it? Healthcare is a complicated business. And an expensive one. But never before has it been this complex. The intricacies of our healthcare ecology have extended into nearly every other aspect of our society. […]
Their Kind of Town
National medical institutions are coming to Chicago The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, provides world-class healthcare, just a hop, skip and a jump away from the internationally respected institutions here at home. The resources at Mayo are often just what patients like Kevin Lue are looking for, and thousands of other Chicagoans make the pilgrimage […]
What’s the Score
-A response from our editor In the Spring 2011 issue of Chicago Health, we printed a story called, “Heartful,” which discussed the best-ranked Chicagoland hospitals in the field of cardiology. And we caught a little guff from a hospital that was not included. For this particular story, we cited rankings compiled by the Illinois Hospital Report Card and […]
Bringing Healthcare Up to Speed
How electronic medical records are improving an outdated system Once upon a time, to find a book at the library you had to shuffle through drawers of alphabetically listed cards. To check out at the grocery store, the clerk entered every price manually. Identification wristbands at the hospital had your name written on them in pen […]
Fighting Young
When it comes to pediatric cancer, there are many uncertainties. But clinical trials are quickly saving more and more lives and letting kids, like Abigail Mendoza, live. Abigail Mendoza sat at the dinner table chewing alternating bites of homemade pizza and ranch- drenched carrot sticks. Her grin was constant. A toothy mash-up. A cross between […]
Change of Heart
Incredible new technologies keep the heart pumping On a multiple-choice quiz, a fair amount of people would be able to correctly select Christiaan Barnard as the first doctor to perform a human heart transplant in 1967. That milestone in cardiac surgery is now a commonplace procedure that no longer makes the headlines. But it doesn’t […]
Magnetic Nurses
How the Magnet Recognition Program for nurses affects your hospital When we think about what makes for a great hospital, we tend to think about the doctors, the equipment and even the cost. And, nurses? Well, we just hope they’re not too overworked and grumpy to get the doctor and morphine when we need them. […]
