News From SIH

SIH’s Dr. Alejandro Hornik joins The Morning Newswatch.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday extended Illinois' stay-at-home order through May 30, with some modifications. One of those modifications includes requiring face coverings for everyone in indoor public places and in places where people can't maintain a 6-foot distance from others.

A relief fund is helping local health care workers and the community they serve. It's called the SIH COVID-19 Relief Fund. Being a health care professional has never been easy. Add a pandemic to the mix, and the stress level increases substantially. Vice President of Community Affairs Woody Thorne with Southern Illinois Healthcare said they're handling it the best they can.

Southern Illinois University is utilizing 3D printing technology to create plastic face shields for Southern Illinois Healthcare. Lingguo Bu, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, with support from the SIU STEM Education Research Center, has already delivered about 150 shields to SIH, and on Monday he delivered 20 more.

COVID-19 is stopping some patients who need to seek immediate medical help from doing so. SIH is one of many institutions regionally and nationwide that have seen a 50 percent drop in patient visits for conditions like stroke and heart attacks.

After hearing about the shortage of personal protective equipment to fight COVID-19, Bernie Hennenberger’s best friend, Darren Haney, had an idea to help local hospitals during the pandemic. They could use their 3D printers to make face shields for health care workers.

Illinoisans will be required to wear face masks or other face coverings starting May 1 in public places where they cannot maintain social distancing. Southern Illinois doctors hope everyone takes Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker's new mask requirement seriously. Dr. Matt Winkleman with SIH said there's no need for people to wait until May 1 to start wearing masks. They should start today.

Dr. Sarah Altamimi, an infectious disease physician at Southern Illinois Healthcare, knows a good way you can protect yourself from COVID-19: Stop wearing vinyl or latex gloves in public. “Wearing gloves does not add any level of security or protection, and it might add harm,” Altamimi said.

GLOVES FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. Is wearing rubber gloves while out in public effective in protecting you from the Corona virus?

A Marion man is speaking out about fear of COVID-19 preventing people from seeking emergency care after he waited three days to get help during a heart attack. On May 1, David Willard of Marion took advantage of the nice weather to power wash his house.