Daywatch: How Illinois ranks for hospital safety
Good morning, Chicago.
In what's surely every patient's nightmare, foreign objects such as surgical sponges sometimes get left behind inside the body during surgery.
It happens only rarely, but to help avoid it, health care workers have traditionally counted surgical sponges during procedures to make sure they're all accounted for. Some hospitals, including Rush University Medical Center, have added a second layer of protection: using sponges with radio frequency identification technology. That way, at the end of a surgery, operating room staff can wave a wand over the patient and get an alert if any sponges are still inside.
It's just one example of the types of measures Illinois hospitals have implemented in recent years to improve patient safety — an effort that may be paying off, according to the latest Leapfrog Group hospital safety grades. Illinois now ranks 20th in the country, up from 30th a year ago, for the percentage of its hospitals earning A grades for safety.
Though Illinois improved its ranking overall, the ratings were a mixed bag for individual Illinois hospitals, with more hospitals notching A grades but also more earning Ds than when grades were last released in the fall.
Read the full story from the Tribune's Lisa Schencker.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including two measles cases confirmed in Cook County, the latest on the teen curfew debate and evaluating the first month of the season for the Chicago White Sox.
US, Ukraine sign economic deal after Trump presses Kyiv to pay back US for help in repelling Russia
The U.S. and Ukraine announced yesterday an economic agreement after a weekslong press by President Donald Trump on Ukraine to compensate Washington for billions in military and economic assistance to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion.
Ukraine and the US have finally signed a minerals deal. What does it include?
American Airlines to launch service to 7 new destinations from O'Hare this year
American Airlines will begin flying to seven new destinations from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport later this year, many of them warm-weather tourism spots.
Power to impose 'snap' teen curfew for top cop, Johnson deputy hits council hurdle
Aldermen waffled yesterday on a proposal to give Chicago's top public safety leaders the power to declare 'snap curfews' in an effort to curb so-called teen takeovers, delaying a vote on the contentious idea after a five-hour debate.
Facing a razor-thin roll call and requests for more time, along with deep concerns from opponents about how officials might use the new curfew authority, Ald. Brian Hopkins called off the vote on his ordinance in the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
Health officials confirm Cook County's first two measles cases of the year
Public health officials confirmed the first two cases of measles in Cook County this year yesterday — as the illness continues to spread across the country.
Indiana budget cuts to Imagination Library may limit program's reach
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Niles tearing down Leaning Tower YMCA, making way for new shops, housing and more
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Evaluating the 1st month of the season for the Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox came into yesterday with a 7-22 record, just one more victory than last year's dreadful 6-23 start on the way to setting the modern-day MLB record for most losses in a season (121). They are in last place again in the American League Central, trailing the division-leading Detroit Tigers by 11 games before yesterday's first pitch.
Bill Belichick defends girlfriend Jordon Hudson as 'doing her job' after CBS interview
North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick defended girlfriend Jordon Hudson for interjecting during a CBS interviewer's questions about their relationship and said she was 'simply doing her job.'
The six-time Super Bowl-winning coach and first-time college coach issued a statement through the school, which followed an appearance on 'CBS News Sunday Morning' to promote his upcoming book on his coaching life.
Dance for Life announces lineup for 2025, its biggest in decades
Dance for Life has announced the lineup for its 2025 performance and gala in August at the Auditorium Theatre and Venue SIX10.
The list of Chicago-area dance companies participating this summer includes the Chicago Tap All-Stars, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Giordano Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet, Movement Revolution Dance Crew, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Trinity Irish Dance Company and Visceral Dance Chicago, plus a first-time appearance for Aerial Dance Chicago. Choreographer Jonathan Alsberry, who contributed in 2024, will return to create the performance's finale, a work including dancers from across the Chicago area.
Chicago Gourmet announces 2025 dates, new sports theme with a crosstown twist and all-star roster of chefs
Chicago Gourmet, the upscale food festival that celebrates the city as a 'culinary capital,' will return to Millennium Park from Sept. 25 to 28 with a new, sporty twist.
This year's theme, 'Step up to the Plate,' is a marriage of food and sports, showcasing 'all-star chefs, big-time bites and championship-level sips,' said Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association.
Gwendolyn Brooks, Chicago's Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, wrote of life's also-rans
Ron Grossman first learned of Gwendolyn Brooks when she won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Chicago's newspapers applauded her. She was a Chicagoan, a woman, and the first African American thus honored.
Recently, Grossman dug out the Tribune's story, which brought back a memory of the confusion it triggered. 'Genius among colored people, when discovered, has never gone unrecognized,' Roscoe Simmons, a journalist, activist and the nephew of Booker T. Washington, wrote in the Tribune.
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