•May 10, 2017•

Decatur Memorial Hospital will host its annual Stroke Symposium at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 25, in the Classroom Complex at the Hospital. This year’s event titled, “Think F.A.S.T. – Stroke Prevention: How Not to Have a Stroke” will feature health care specialists and leaders in the areas of stroke prevention, detection and treatment presenting on a variety of stroke-related topics:

• Brain Attack Introduction – Oliver Dold, M.D., Neurosurgeon, DMH Medical Group

• Initial Care of a Stroke – Kevin Oliver, D.O., DMH Emergency Medicine

• Restoring Blood Flow – Howard Wiarda, M.D., DMH Interventional Radiologist Read More

•May 10, 2017•

Join in the fun May 20 for the annual outdoor youth festival at Wolf Creek State Park on Lake Shelbyville in Windsor.

The Lincoln Trails Council Boy Scouts of America along with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will host the 2017 Spring Rendezvous and Links to the Future.

The event is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and focuses on promoting, preserving, and continuing Illinois’ outdoor sporting traditions.

There will be opportunities for the public to go fishing, watch or participate in a Dutch Oven Gathering (D.O.G.), shoot targets with a BB gun, shotgun trap shooting, archery or throw tomahawks with the Illinois Tomahawk Throwers Association.  Read More

•May 10, 2017•

By Trudy Lieberman
Rural Health News Service

In a recent column I reported on an effort in Ohio to bring price transparency to medical services. Ohio state representative Jim Butler had spearheaded passage of legislation that would require healthcare providers including doctors and hospitals to disclose prices for their services. The law was supposed to take effect last summer, but Gov. John Kasich, the Ohio Hospital Association, and other health groups that oppose transparency have stymied implementation. The governor’s budget for next year calls for repealing the law.

Ohio’s law may disappear, but the demand for information is not going away. Many readers are downright angry after trying hard – and unsuccessfully - to get information to make good medical decisions.

James Friesen, a lending officer at a bank in Kearney, Nebraska, told me when he wanted to pay cash for a cardiac test his insurer wouldn’t pay for, he couldn’t find out the negotiated price his insurer had agreed to pay the hospital. Neither his insurer nor the hospital would say. “The doctor who ordered the test didn’t even know,” he said. “They intentionally keep patient consumers in the dark about pricing.” Read More

25 Years Ago This Week

Fire destroyed the James and Jane Rentfrow home of rural Sullivan with firefighters from Bethany and Arthur assisting. When firefighters arrived the north end of the home was engulfed in flames.

The curtain goes up on the annual Festival of Stars with everything from a sneak peek at The Little Theatre on the Square’s new season to countless activities for children and adults alike.

Toby Twist, the clown, and special guest “Toodle, the Poodle” were official greeters for the Festival.

Bethany’s Jamie Scott won the high jump, the long jump and helped the team to a third at the Redskin Relays.

Danny Gott and Lawson Livingston helped pace Sullivan to a second place finish in the 3200 relay at Redskin Relays. Read More