But Dr. Terry Mason, Daley’s health commissioner, said Hoffman’s assertions about missing medicine and poor record-keeping were “not quite true.”
“It’s not my belief that anything has been stolen,” Mason said. “Every dose of vaccine, we know where it went, so none of that was wasted.”The city last year lost its license to handle powerful drugs that are regulated by the federal government, such as the generic equivalent of Valium, in part because Read the rest of this entry »

The new pavilion will span a two-block area on East 57th Street, just north of the Comer Children’s Hospital and the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Once the pavilion opens in 2012, the main adult hospital building, known as Bernard Mitchell, will convert to all private rooms. Included in the new pavilion’s features are 80 private patient rooms and 24 intensive-care beds on each of the top three floors. The Read the rest of this entry »

Faced with the impending closing of four of Chicago’s 12 mental health centers, an advisory board prodded the city’s public health commissioner Monday and spoke of pressuring
to create a separate mental health department in the hopes of avoiding further cutbacks.
Dr. Terry Mason met with the Community Mental Health Board of Chicago and mental health activists for two hours Monday, explaining that the centers were being closed and what was Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago cop kills daughter, himself; son wounded
CHICAGO (AP) — An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed his young daughter and critically injured his young son then took his own life Monday, police said.
Chicago police said the shootings stemmed from a domestic dispute between the officer and the children’s mother, but they would not elaborate. They would not release the name of the officer, saying only that he was 31 years old Read the rest of this entry »

held a hearing Tuesday on a proposal to ban children’s products made with bisphenol A, a plastic chemical additive. BPA, found in products such as baby bottles and the linings of canned food and infant formula, is an environmental estrogen that can, according to a growing body of research, lead to a host of health problems.
Most at risk: fetuses and infants. BPA leaches from packaging such as tins and bottles into food and drink. The BPA exposure Read the rest of this entry »

The crash of a medical helicopter Wednesday in Aurora cast a spotlight on the safety of such flights, a concern that has been raised this year as Children’s Memorial Hospital’s new 22-story facility rises downtown.
Members of Streeterville Organization of Active Residents have been fighting against a planned rooftop heliport, contending that strong lakefront winds and surrounding skyscrapers would put the helicopter operator, patients and community Read the rest of this entry »

AURORA, Ill. (AP) — A medical helicopter crashed in a Chicago suburb, killing four people, including a 13-month-old girl suffering seizures, authorities said early Thursday.
The helicopter was headed for Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago from Valley West Hospital in Sandwich when it went down around midnight, said Aurora police spokesman Sgt. Robb Wallers.
Wallers said the helicopter belonged to Air Angels Inc., an emergency medical Read the rest of this entry »

Damn.
I'm not sure why Madison is such a tough market for Chicago-style hot dogs.
The classic Chicago version includes a Vienna beef hot dog topped with onions, tomatoes, a dill pickle, sport peppers, green relish, mustard and celery salt. It is served on steamed poppy seed bun.
What's not to like there?
In addition, one of Madison's most prominent citizens, former mayor Paul Soglin, is a great advocate of the Chicago dog.
It Read the rest of this entry »

In the latest round of the fight over whether nonprofit hospitals provide enough charity care to justify their tax exemptions, a big Chicago hospital operator is settling a class action suit over what it has charged the uninsured.
Advocate Health Care, which operates a bunch of hospitals in the Chicago area, said today it has agreed to provide charity aid to patients earning up to 400% of the
or $82,500 for a family of four, the
. It will provide Read the rest of this entry »

CHICAGO – Northwestern Memorial Hospital and an associated
physicians’ group face federal subpoenas from the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.
The Chicago hospital and the Chicago-based Northwestern Medical
Faculty Foundation said in a statement Saturday evening that a
review is underway by the department’s Office of Inspector General.
According to the statement, “the subpoenas request information
regarding the structuring of various Read the rest of this entry »