Illinois Health and Hospital Association

04/20/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/20/2026 14:33

IHA Daily Briefing: April 20

IHA Submits Comments on Federal 340B Rebate Model


IHA submitted comments to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on the 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. Comments focused on the administrative and resource burden the pilot will pose for 340B providers, as well as the cash flow problems hospitals will experience and the services and programs that will be at stake under the rebate program. We also ask for more rigorous oversight of pharmaceutical manufacturers under the rebate program, and for any permanent changes to the financing of the program to be formally acted on not only by lawmakers but also be presented to the public through Notice and Comment rulemaking.

Still Time to Register: Strategies to Reduce Stress in Clinical Care Webinar

IHA invites you to our upcoming complimentary webinar, "How We Support Each Other: Strategies for Healthcare Leaders and Teams," a session designed to strengthen resilience, enhance communication, and promote meaningful support across healthcare teams.

This Wednesday, April 22, at 11 a.m. CT, Saloumeh DeGood, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Evolve Wellness, will lead a one-hour program focused on practical, evidence informed approaches leaders can apply immediately in their organizations. During this session, Dr. DeGood will discuss:

  • Three proven strategies leaders can use to reduce stress and reinforce psychological safety in clinical environments.
  • Two practical techniques for supporting colleagues in ways that improve morale, teamwork, and overall performance.
  • How compassionate leadership, psychological safety, and peer support build stronger communication and collaboration across healthcare teams.

Offered at no cost, this webinar is open to all healthcare providers and wellness leaders. One hour of nurse continuing education credit is available for this program. Please share the registration information with colleagues throughout your organization. Click here to register.

Illinois Legislative Update

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned last Friday after a very busy week of committee and floor action prior to the April 17 third-reading deadline in both chambers. The Senate is likely to continue to issue deadline extensions, while the House may issue them on a case-by-case basis. The Illinois Senate created an "Agreed Bill List" to expedite the passage of 62 noncontroversial bills on a single roll call. Last week, 135 bills passed the Senate and 201 bills passed the House, bringing total bills passed out of each chamber to 148 bills in the Senate and 339 bills in the House. The House will return to session tomorrow, April 21, through Thursday, April 23. The Senate is off this week and will return April 28.

CDC COCA Call: Rabies Epidemiology, Outbreaks and Prevention Costs

Because there are fewer than 10 confirmed human rabies cases in the U.S. each year, rabies isn't always easily recognized by clinicians. But about 4,000 animals are confirmed to have rabies each year in the United States, and people are exposed to the virus every day.


During a Thursday, April 30 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Call, presenters will discuss the current rabies landscape and identify CDC resources to help clinicians and health departments with risk assessments. The webinar will take place from 1-2 p.m. CT and you can click here to join the call. Registration is not required.

If you are unable to attend the live session of this COCA Call , the closed-captioned video and transcript will be available on the COCA Call webpage approximately one week after the live session. The slide deck will be available on the day of the call on the COCA Call webpage under "Webinar." Free Continuing Education will be offered for this COCA Call.

Research: Ambulance and Healthcare Deserts


Access to timely ambulance service is an essential part of the emergency medical system. Yet ambulance access varies widely with significant gaps across the country. Research from the Federal Office of Rural Health-supported Rural Health Research Gateway identifies places and people that are more than 25 minutes from an ambulance station, also called an ambulance desert (AD), across 41 states. Notably, the study defines an "ambulance desert" based on distance from an "ambulance station." The maps include the locations of hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics. Researchers found that while 13.1% of Illinois' population lives in rural areas, 91.8% of Illinois' AD populations live in rural areas. Notably, 9,417 rural people (0.56% of the rural population) were living in an AD; 11,903 rural people (0.71% of the rural population) were living in a healthcare desert (HCD); 5,309 rural people were living in both an HCD and AD; and 16,012 were living in either an HCD, an AD, or both.

The Infectious Respiratory Disease Surveillance Dashboard from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) provides the latest data on hospital visits, seasonal trends, lab test positivity and demographic data. IDPH also tracks COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus information through the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard.

Briefly Noted


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a " Be Ready for Measles " toolkit. CDC is encouraging health providers to review its measles toolkit and other resources for timely information on the disease, as it anticipates additional cases due to expected increases in international and domestic travel during the spring and summer months. The toolkit provides fact sheets, social media graphics, and videos for the public, and outbreak-related response tools for clinicians and other public health professionals.

Leading the News

New 3T MRI technology unveiled in Marion, bringing faster, more precise imaging closer to home

WSIL

Community leaders, healthcare providers, and business partners gathered Friday afternoon for a ribbon cutting at Deaconess Illinois Medical Center, celebrating the arrival of a new 3T MRI system, a machine officials say features a first-in-the-nation hardware upgrade, according to Deaconess officials.

Illinoisans overwhelmingly want to impose strict rules on data centers

Chicago Sun-Times

In a mid-March poll, 68% of likely Illinois voters said they would support legislation to "regulate data centers to minimize their impact on our utility bills, climate, and water while still allowing them to be built."

Reddit data reveals new GLP-1 side effects: Study

Becker's Hospital Review

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have used AI to analyze more than 400,000 Reddit posts and identify potential GLP-1 side effects not fully captured in clinical trials.

KitKat, Gatorade or granola bars? What's banned under new SNAP rules is mixed.

The Washington Post

Across the country, retailers and low-income Americans are facing complex new rules overhauling what millions of people can buy with food stamps. As Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies seek to tackle the widespread rate of chronic diseases causing Americans to die earlier, they argue federal dollars shouldn't help people buy products increasingly linked to poor health and obesity. Trump administration officials have pushed states to bar the use of food stamps for soda and candy.

Illinois Health and Hospital Association published this content on April 20, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 20, 2026 at 20:34 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]