Public Health
Read more about the article New bill addresses Illinois concussion response in prep sportsDarrell Hoemann
Athletic trainer Dustin Fink in the Mt. Zion High School training room where he has screened athletes for concussions. Photo taken on Friday, May 22, 2015.

New bill addresses Illinois concussion response in prep sports

Dustin Fink suffered his first concussion growing up in Lone Tree, Colorado, when he ran into a post on the playground in fourth grade. It was the mid-1980s and the school nurse looked him over, he recalled, sent him back to class and that was that.

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Read more about the article Indiana high school athletic association tries concussion logging system; Illinois considers similar plan
Dr. Jerrad Zimmerman is a physician in Carle Foundation Hospital’s sports medicine department.

Indiana high school athletic association tries concussion logging system; Illinois considers similar plan

The Indiana High School Athletic Association logged 1,217 concussive events in high school athletics throughout Indiana during the fall season. How many occurred in Illinois? Nobody knows for sure.

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Read more about the article Local tattoo artists frustrated with lax law, lack of quality health inspectionsDarrell Hoemann
Ray Allen Hughes of Champaign Tattoo with his registration receipt in his studio in Champaign, ILL on Friday, May 1, 2015.

Local tattoo artists frustrated with lax law, lack of quality health inspections

Some local tattoo artists are expressing frustration with the cursory inspections of their shops since Illinois took the responsibility of inspections from the Champaign-Urbana health district two years ago.

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Read more about the article Cockroaches, stray knife among complaints against restaurants in the past six monthsDarrell Hoemann
The McDonalds restaurant at Neil and Marketview in Champaign on Wednesday, February 25, 2015.

Cockroaches, stray knife among complaints against restaurants in the past six months

Restaurant complaints filed in Champaign County over the past six months have ranged from a restaurant running out of napkins to a cockroach crawling out of a customer’s food.

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Read more about the article How to file a restaurant complaint
A screen shot from the Champaign Urbana Public Health District's webpage - http://home/citizenaccess/public_html.c-uphd.org/submit-food-service-complaint.html

How to file a restaurant complaint

Restaurant goers in Champaign County can call the Champaign Urbana Public Health District at (217) 373-7900 to file a complaint against the business if it’s located in the twin cities, or (217) 363-3269 if it’s in the county.

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Read more about the article Nursing home ratings sometimes misleadingDarrell Hoemann
Residents sit around a table during a knitting activity session as Clark-Lindsey Retirement Village on Nov. 7, 2014. Clark-Lindsey in Urbana and Country Health in Gifford are the only five-star facilities in Champaign County.

Nursing home ratings sometimes misleading

Since 2011, dozens of central Illinois nursing homes have improved their five-star Medicare rating, some by as much as four stars. But that improvement, some critics say, is not an accurate representation.

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Read more about the article Central Illinois nursing homes plagued by violationsDarrell Hoemann
A resident participates in a knitting group at Clark-Lindsey Retirement Village on Nov. 7, 2014. Clark-Lindsey in Urbana is one of two federally rated five-star facilities in Champaign County.

Central Illinois nursing homes plagued by violations

Gerald Warmbier began a medical journey last year that took him to the nursing home Heartland of Champaign. But instead of helping him recover after medical treatment at Carle Foundation Hospital, the nursing home delivered such poor care that it led to his death, according to a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Champaign County by his wife.

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Read more about the article County opposition to placards grows strongerFile Photo
The photo illustration shows examples of health inspection compliance posters required to be prominently displayed in food establishments within the Champaign-Urbana city limits. The posters indicate to the public the results of the latest health inspection. The Champaign County Board again struck down the proposal in a 14-5 vote to expand the mandate throughout the county this week.

County opposition to placards grows stronger

Claire Everett/CU-CitizenAccess.org — The Champaign County Board is continuing its opposition to the mandatory posting of health inspection placards for county food establishments outside the cities of Urbana and Champaign. The most recent vote against mandatory posting was by a much greater margin this week, with 14 members opposing and 5 supporting.

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Read more about the article Complaints about restaurants on the riseChampaign Urbana Public Health Department
Photograph submitted to the Champaign Urbana Public Health Department within a complaint about "a clump of hair attached to another object," found in the bottom of a cup, July 15, 2014.

Complaints about restaurants on the rise

Clumps of hair at the bottom of coffee cups and green slime leaking out of meat sandwiches were among the more extreme examples of complaints filed by customers and restaurant employees against food establishments this year.

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