Health and Medicine

OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington will be adding neonatology services to its birthing center next month, hospital officials announced Tuesday.

This week, Republicans in Congress will try to rally votes behind a bill that proposes major changes to the way Americans get health care and how much they pay.

In Illinois, many thousands could be affected. Use this Q&A to explore how the bill would affect you.

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Connect Transit expects up to a 7 percent increase in use of its Connect Mobility service next month. That's because the YWCA is shutting down its Medivan program.

The YWCA made that choice because state funding was unreliable and the program was on pace to operate at a $120,000 per year deficit.

Speaking at Bloomington High School, Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said Bloomington-Normal schools stand to lose about $500,000  in Medicaid funds under the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare.

The McLean County Health Department says there are five new confirmed cases of mumps in the area.

Those are cases the health department believes do not connect to a cluster of cases at Illinois State University in March.

Another in the rolling series of healthcare protests has happened in Bloomington.

Progressives held a "die-in" outside the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Both Central Illinois Congressman Darin LaHood and Rodney Davis voted for the bill to replace the Affordable Care Act.

This is not a complete repeal of Obamacare. But, Congressman Davis said it fixes health care to provide more affordable choices and more accessibility.

Progressives in Bloomington Normal made a point of going out in the rain to area Congressional offices to protest the House vote on the GOP healthcare repeal.

The measure passed the house and moves to the Senate, which has decided to work on its own bill and not take up the House version.

State Representative Carol Ammons says she’ll announce by late June if she’s running for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District in 2018.

For now the Urbana Democrat has formed an exploratory committee to help her decide whether to challenge Republican Congressman Rodney Davis of Taylorville.

A six-time Olympic medal winner told attendees at last night's Women's Health Night  they can overcome obstacles because she was able to achieve her dreams despite losing her mother at age 18 and being diagnosed with severe asthma.

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said progressives should not get their hopes up about a single payer healthcare insurance system.

At least three confirmed cases of mumps have been reported in the past few days at Illinois State University, triggering outbreak status for the communicable disease at ISU.

As many as 70 people rallied on the lawn of the BCPA Tuesday evening against Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.  Speakers including announced 13th District Democratic Congressional candidate David Gill and last fall's 18th District Democratic candidate Junius Rodriguez decried the proposed GOP alternative.

The City of Bloomington has shut down the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center. A contractor tipped off the city that fire alarms did not work.

Illinois dentists want the option to void state workers’ dental plans. New legislation aims to do just that. If dentists could opt out of state worker insurance, those patients would have to pay for all dental work out of pocket — and wait themselves for the state to pay them back.

Unit Five Schools are updating policies to deal with student concussions and head injuries. 

School Board Member Barry Hitchins said the new procedures will also cover injuries that happen during recess, P.E. courses, and after school activities such as marching band. 

University High School and the family of a basketball player there are trying to turn near tragedy into life saving at other schools.

Kai Bates-Diop dropped to the floor of the gym during practice recently with sudden cardiac arrest.

The Assistant Administrator at the McLean County Health Department will take the top job on an interim basis.

Cathy Coverston-Anderson has been at the agency for more than seven years. Anderson has a graduate degree in public health from Harvard.

A new group is issuing a call for human milk donors in McLean County.

The first milk depot is opening at the health department in Bloomington next week.

Pre-screened lactating women can donate excess breast milk to help medically fragile babies.