{"id":647013,"date":"2026-10-15T09:22:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/647013\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T09:22:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:22:44","slug":"the-rundown-a-proposed-chicago-area-healthcare-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/647013\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rundown: A proposed Chicago-area healthcare merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon! My colleagues will join Chicago Public Schools students to grill school board president candidates at 8 p.m. tonight. Tune in on 91.5 FM or YouTube<\/a>. Here\u2019s what else you need to know today.<\/p>\n

1. Endeavor Health and Rush proposed a merged healthcare system<\/a><\/p>\n

Endeavor Health, including its nine Chicago-area hospitals, announced plans today to merge under the umbrella of Rush University System for Health, my colleague Elvia Malag\u00f3n reports.<\/p>\n

For now, not much will change for patients, as the proposed merger will undergo a regulatory process that could take months before approval. The combined organization would include 12 hospitals in the Chicago area, which could make it one of the largest health systems in the area.<\/p>\n

Endeavor Health hospitals include Swedish Hospital, Evanston Hospital, Edward Hospital, Skokie Hospital, Elmhurst Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital, Highland Park Hospital, Linden Oaks Hospital and Northwest Community Hospital. The hospitals will keep their names but operate within Rush.<\/p>\n

Dr. Omar Lateef, president and CEO of the Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center, said the goal is to improve access for patients and opportunities for its workforce. The combined system will include its current hospitals \u2014 Rush University Medical Center, Rush Copley Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you need a clinical trial, this should open up clinical trials,\u201d Lateef said. \u201cIf you need access to a higher level or a more local type of care, then you can get it where you are. The goal of this is to enhance access, to take the highest quality of care and expand it to all our sites and make any patient who is in that site seamlessly able to go to another site.\u201d [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

2. Democratic Lt. Gov Juliana Stratton faces former GOP chair Don Tracy in the battle for Sen. Dick Durbin\u2019s seat<\/a><\/p>\n

Since her primary win, Stratton has been building coalitions in Illinois and Washington as she positions herself to become the state\u2019s fourth Black senator, Tina Sfondeles reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

Stratton defeated fundraising leader U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Robin Kelly in a contentious primary that included a late campaign surge and millions in support from longtime running mate Gov. JB Pritzker.<\/p>\n

The lieutenant governor was the lone candidate to support completely abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, offering up a more progressive stance for voters. Krishnamoorthi vowed support for \u201cabolishing Trump\u2019s ICE,\u201d the same position as Pritzker. Stratton said while she plans to fight President Donald Trump\u2019s policies and help improve access to healthcare, she also wants to carry on some of Durbin\u2019s \u201cunfinished business,\u201d including a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and DACA recipients.<\/p>\n

Tracy, the former chair of the Illinois Republican Party, said he represents the millions of Republicans in the state who want to focus on the cost of living, healthcare and taxes. While he stopped short of calling Stratton a \u201csocialist,\u201d he said her positions align with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

As for Tracy\u2019s view on Trump, he said \u201cit depends on the policy.\u201d Tracy said he hasn\u2019t asked Trump for an endorsement but he wouldn\u2019t turn it down. He also expressed some support for the SAVE Act, including voter ID and proving citizenship when registering to vote. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

3. The Chicago Park District said Griffin MSI\u2019s planned Welcome Hall is too big \u2014 then supported the project anyway<\/a><\/p>\n

As architecture columnist Lee Bey reports, the park district asked the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry to shrink the 458-foot-long, two-story Welcome Hall planned for the institution\u2019s main entry but supported the design after consulting with government and nonprofit preservationists.<\/p>\n

The Welcome Hall, which would be located outside the museum\u2019s North Portico, \u201cquickly rises to a height that visually blocks the lower portions of the historic facades from most vantage points beyond the corners of the original courtyard,\u201d Chicago Park District Planning and Research Manager Nelson Chueng wrote in a March 24 letter to Griffin MSI\u2019s Vice President of Government Affairs Anne Rashford.<\/p>\n

Chueng also said the new structure would be \u201centirely modern, in stark contrast to the [museum\u2019s] strict Beaux-Arts design,\u201d and asked if there were any earlier schemes for the hall \u201cthat continued the classical expression and related directly to the historic building facades.\u201d<\/p>\n

The points raised in the letter echo much of the public criticism that has been leveled at the museum and architecture firm RAMSA since renderings of the project were released last month. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

4. The Cook County medical examiner\u2019s office identified the 55 bodies found at South Chicago Chapel this summer<\/a><\/p>\n

The medical examiner\u2019s office used fingerprinting, visual identification, DNA, radiology and dental records to identify the remains found at the South Deering funeral home in August.<\/p>\n

In total, the medical examiner\u2019s office identified 55 bodies and a bag of organs previously believed to be its own entity, until DNA testing traced it to one of the bodies. Previous reports noted that 56 bodies were found.<\/p>\n

Illinois authorities shut down South Chicago Chapel after receiving a tip that owners Clark and Johanna Morgan were improperly storing bodies. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

5. Raging Bull, a rollercoaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, closed after someone died on a similar ride in Georgia <\/a><\/p>\n

A Six Flags Great America spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday there is no timeline for reopening.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed similar attractions across our parks,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe safety of our guests and team members is our highest priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raging Bull, which opened in 1999, stands 202 feet tall and stretches 5,057 feet, reaching speeds of up to 73 mph, according to the park\u2019s website. It is the tallest and longest coaster in the park.<\/p>\n

The death in Georgia happened around 4 p.m. Monday at Six Flags Over Georgia near Atlanta, according to the Cobb County Police Department. Preliminary information gathered through witness and employee interviews indicated a man was ejected from the ride and hit other patrons before falling beneath the attraction, according to a police news release. The investigation remains ongoing. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what else is happening<\/p>\n

Consumer prices in September rose 3.7% from a year ago, driven by a spike in energy prices tied to the U.S. war with Iran. [NPR<\/a>]U.S. House Democrats are preparing an ambitious 100-day agenda if the party seizes majority control in next month\u2019s elections. [AP<\/a>]Here are six takeaways from the only televised debate in the Illinois governor race. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]Review: Olivia Rodrigo bloomed into the best version of herself during her Chicago performance. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Oh, and one more thing \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cHoliday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story\u201d is like a game plan where the coaches write down the first 15 offensive snaps in advance, and the team follows that script to the letter. As film critic Richard Roeper writes, the movie is a predictable, time-tested, winning formula, with few surprises and a high degree of safety.<\/p>\n

Filmed during the blistering heat of July, this third entry in the \u201cHoliday Touchdown\u201d franchise (after Kansas City, Missouri, and Buffalo, New York) brings the Hallmark recipe to Chicago.<\/p>\n

Viewers get a tailgating scene at Soldier Field, a cornhole tournament against the backdrop of the holiday market and a charity event at Halas Hall. There are a number of cameos from current and former Bears, notably Coach Ben Johnson (a natural onscreen), tight end Colston Loveland and cornerback Peanut Tillman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoliday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story\u201d airs at 7 p.m. this Saturday on the Hallmark Channel. [Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Tell me something good \u2026<\/p>\n

What is your favorite sports-related memory from this year?<\/p>\n

Jill writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cSetting a 32+ min PR at a 50 mile ultramarathon last weekend. The support and camaraderie of an ultra is a sight to behold. 10\/10 highly recommend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good afternoon! My colleagues will join Chicago Public Schools students to grill school board president candidates at 8…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-647013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}