Family Medicine and COVID-19 Media

Board member Mustafa Alavi, MD and member Ben Brewer, MD contributed to this wide ranging WBEZ radio Feb. 15 report on the availability and distribution of COVID-19 outpatient treatments.  The story was also published February 22 in their media partner Chicago Sun-Times. 

Cook County Health Chair of Family Medicine Mark Loafman, MD was on ABC7 Chicago 6pm news feature on a 13 year old patient from his practice who was unvaccinated and contracted COVID19, ending up in the hospital.  That patient's family was originally hesitant to take the vaccine and is now urging everyone to get vaccinated.

Several IAFP members are featured in this Cook County "Trust Us" public campaign urging eligible people to get the COVID-vaccine.   Efforts include print and television advertisements addressing many of the concerns raised by their patients hesitating to get vaccinated.    

Dr. Evelyn Figueroa appeared live on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" on Oct. 11 to talk about continued efforts towards herd immunity with the vaccine and the upcoming possible expansion to ages 5-11. 

Dr. Carl Lambert appeared live on set with News Nation Morning in America on Oct. 11 to discuss the new recommendations on COVID vaccine boosters, continuing conversations with patients and even upcoming Trick or Treat safety. 

Dr. Carl Lambert of Rush University of Health System in Chicago is one of the physicians featured in this Oct. 4 Associated Press story about the misinformation that fuels patients refusal to accept the COVID vaccine. 

Dr. Clodagh Ryan of La Grange talked with NBC5 on September 7 with good guidance on at home COVID tests now available. 

Dr. Jeff Ripperda live on WGN radio with John Williams with his front lines view of Southern Illinois as COVID cases fill hospitals. (Aug 20, 2021) and then invited back live on September 2 to continue to update listeners on Southern Illinois' situation.

Dr. James Alexander of Harrisburg spent 8 minutes live on the air for a WSIL-TV Special Report COVID Conversations on September 2 discussing his experiences caring for COVID patients and continued advice for all who are eligible to get the vaccine as soon as possible.

Alex Porte, MD and Lawndale Christian Health Center provided COVID vaccines to people experiencing homelessness in partnership with Chicago Department of Public health and featured in a February 23 Chicago Sun-Times story

Dr. Whitney Lyn from Cook County Health is included in this NBC 5 Docuseries - Vaccinated State:  Episode 1 premiered February 19

Evelyn Figueroa, MD and Alex Wu, MD, founders of the Pilsen Food Pantry were honored as Difference Makers on WBEZ radio on February 16. 

Thomas Huggett, MD of Chicago (Lawndale Christian Health Center) was featured on the BBC REEL video network about his work to secure homeless patients in an upscale downtown Chicago hotel to provide shelter, healthcare and safe isolation during the pandemic. 

IAFP Board Member Scott Levin, MD provided perspective from West Suburban Hospital on obstacles to obtaining COVID vaccines for their community in this Feb. 16 investigation by WBEZ radio. 

Whitney Lyn, MD (Cook County Hospital) Live on ABC National News Web Town Hall about the COVID-19 Vaccine on Dec. 15

Rush Copley and Northwestern Delnor Family Medicine Residencies tag-team in a public campaign on covid safety featured in Oct. 13 Kane County Chronicle and you can view the video on YouTube.

They may not have their first class of residents yet, but SIU-Alton Family Medicine Residency is already on the front lines providing free COVID-19 testing via Mobile Unit.  Read more in the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

Brittani James, MD member of the IAFP public relations task force was featured in an Associated Press story examining the toll that the pandemic and racism episodes are taking on the Black community in Chicago, especially from the perspective of her South Side practice.  

President-elect Michael A. Hanak, MD, FAAFP authored an AAFP FPs on the Front Lines blog post showcasing the work of Rush University Medical Center and in particular, the family medicine workforce to lead Chicago's response to the pandemic. 

Deborah Edberg, MD returned to the Northwestern McGaw Family Medicine Residency Program she founded as program director ten years ago.  This time is was as the residency graduation speaker.  Her passionate speech was shared as a blog post by Kevin, MD

View a new special portrait gallery and accompanying stories about Pacific Gardens Mission residents and their triumph over COVID-19 under the care of the shelter.  This is a project of the Figueroa Wu Family Foundation, led by IAFP members Evelyn Figueroa, MD and Alexander Wu, MD. 

Here is some good news from CBS-2 in Chicago on a recent successful UI-Pilsen Food Pantry pivot to hold a “baby needs drive” spearheaded by IAFP member Evelyn Figueroa, MD.

Deborah Edberg, MD (Alternate Delegate to AAFP) and her psychologist colleague Dr. Mary Talen collaborated on this May 22 KevinMD blog post with needed strategies to care for the emotional health of providers facing the pandemic head on. 

The University of Illinois at Chicago Cancer Center website profiled the Mile Square South Shore clinic which has mobilized a food pantry at a nearby church to help patients facing food insecurity safely access free food.  IAFP member Nicole Gastala, MD helped to organize the effort and support funding. 

Thomas Cornwell, MD was interviewed by NPR's "Here and Now" for on taking care of elderly family members at home and how families would need to prepare for that.

IAFP board member Sara Malone, MD, along with SIU-Carbondale faculty Socorro Shelton, MD and first year resident Nicole Waters, MD were all feature in a column by Holly Kee in the May 1 Randolph County Herald Tribune as they gave her the COVID-19 test and a great deal of reassurance and perspective on COVID-19 and impact it's had on patients and delivery of patient care. 

2018 Family Physician of the Year, Thomas Huggett, MD is making national news as part of Chicago's solutions for protecting the homeless from COVID-19 outbreaks. He was featured in an Wall Street Journal video  and accompanying article about his work to provide safe isolation and primary care for Chicago's homeless.  He also was interviewed live on MSNBC- TV on April 27 (view it here) and also in a Curbed Chicago article on April 13 and in a front page article in the May 11 Chicago Tribune about the unique transformation of Chicago hotels into safe housing for homeless patients.  He was also interviewed live on WGN-TV Morning News on May 12.
Dr. Huggett appeared with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in an April 13 press conference with now options for assisting the homeless in isolating safely, including Lawndale Christian Health Center on the West Side. Dr. Huggett has been providing primary care in homeless shelters for 24 years.  Read the press release.  The announcement was also published in the Cicero Lawndale News and was covered in the April 21 Chicago Crusader.

Gary Katula, MD is a member of the Yorkville School Board and also on staff at Rush Copley Medical Center. He provided updates and guidance at the recent online board meeting, as reported in the April 29 Northwest Herald. 

Sara Malone, MD is the featured photo in this Randolph County Herald Tribune article reporting how SIU Centers for Family Medicine in Springfield, Quincy and Carbondale are all offering COVID-19 testing.  

Thomas Cornwell, MD was featured in an April 28 Home Health Care News article about the benefits of home care in providing a safer option for seniors and frail patients.  It's working even with a telemedicine approach if an in-person visit isn't possible.  

Evelyn Figueroa, MD was featured on CBS National News on April 23 for her work with the UI-Pilsen Food Pantry in supporting the Latinx community hit particularly had in Chicago and around the nation. 

Richard Clark, MD at Northwestern Family Medicine in Grayslake shared his recent experience and appreciation for telemedicine visits to keep in touch with his patients during the COVID-19 concerns.  He was featured in North Shore Magazine.

Amy Blair, MD Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Medical Education and Assistant Dean of Educational Affairs at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine puts emotions of being a doctor and being human in facing the COVID pandemic into words in an April 23 blog post on Reflective MedEd 

Virtual visits seem to be going well for this Rockford IAFP member, Srivani Sridhar, MD according to WIFR-TV on April 16. The video package allows Dr. Sridhar to illustrate how the video visit might look for the patient. 

Like a good neighbor, Ariel Talts, DO of Forest Park gave good advice to Forest Park Review Columnist John Rice (her neighbor) for his column published April 16.

Board member Kate Rowland, MD joined her Congressman Sean Casten (6th) for a live Town Hall teleconference hosted by AARP Illinois on April 13. The event was covered by the Chicago Daily Herald 

Thomas Cornwell was one of several physicians spotlighted by ABC (national) News on April 14 about how they've adapted non-COVID visits from in- person to virtual.  Dr. Cornwell's entire practice is home visits, so protecting his high-risk elderly patients has led to more telemedicine visits.   

Steven Rothschild, MD chair of family medicine at Rush University Medical Center worked to partner with Heartland Alliance to provide a safe shelter for homeless to recover from COVID-19 at Safe Haven.  Their announcement was covered by WBEZ.

2017 Family Physician of the Year, Rahmat Na'Allah was featured in the Peoria Journal Star on April 13 as COVID-19 cases increased in region.  Dr. Na'Allah discussed reasons why the African American community is being diagnosed at high rights and dying in larger proportion than their population.

Brenda Kube, MD of LeRoy has joined the many who have volunteered to staff the Advocate BroMenn Medical Center "overflow tent" to care for patients, according to the April 8 Bloomington Pantagraph.

Direct Primary Care owner (and IAFP DPC Member Interest Group member) Jillian Scherer, MD is featured in the April 7 Olney Daily Mail on her creative solution to continue caring for her patients and her words of advice to keep their small town safe.

Arvind K. Goyal, MD of South Barrington is the medical director for the Illinois Medicaid program and also IAFP's 2001 Family Physician of the Year.  He authored a guest column in the April 7 Chicago Daily Herald to offer perspective around the issues and effectiveness of COVID-19 testing during this unnerving time for patients.  

Past president Carolyn Lopez, MD (IAFP president 1993-94) is President of the Chicago Board of Health. She shared insights on how City of Chicago leaders prepared and drilled for a flu-like outbreak in 2019, which has helped with the response to the current pandemic, in an April 5 Chicago Sun-Times story. 

IAFP Acting President Michael Hanak, MD was included in a March 31 Chicago Medicine magazine feature on the preparations for and response to the COVID-19 outbreak and eventual pandemic.  

Deborah Edberg, MD (Alternate Delegate to AAFP Congress) provides a touching blog of support for residents and medical students entering medicine in unimaginable circumstances on KevinMD.   She followed up with another blog post published May 11 that reminds us that the threats to front line workers in every setting are not what they signed up for and we must do more to help them. 

Tiffanie Ferry, MD of Rockford is a runner and emphasizes the value of staying active (safely) on WFIR-TV in Rockford on March 28

Just like retired physicians are pitching in, medical students have organized an incredible volunteer effort the Covid Rapid Response team featured in the March 28 Chicago Tribune.  IAFP student member and Chicago Medical School student is one of the group leaders quoted in the article. 

John Sage, MD, our 2002 Family Physician of the Year, retired in 2018. This week he reached out to Advocate Lutheran General to go back to work and help out. He was featured in the March 27 Chicago Daily Herald.

Michael Polizzotto, MD is CMO of Swedish American Hospital in Rockford and discusses hospital capacity in the March 24 Rockford Register-Star 

Past President Susan Rife, DO in Orland Park calls for donations (Oak Forest Patch 3/23) for PPE, when they can't get it through traditional orders.  Primary care practices in the community must stay open to help alleviate the pressure on hospitals. 

Hayley Ralph, MD is on maternity leave and provided guidance on how to care for yourself at home if you get sick – in communication with your primary doctor. That story appeared in the Peoria Journal-Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Decatur Herald & Review, Springfield State Journal-Register. 

Laurie Carrier, MD of Heartland Health Center was featured in WBEZ report on health care providers’ changing their practices to see patients and protect from COVID19- virtual visits and concerns over PPE supplies (Heartland found a couple of boxes at a hardware store!) 

Evelyn Figueroa, MD was live on WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight” March 17 sharing her unique experiences with her patients, her family physician husband Alexander Wu, as parents and their combined work to keep the UI-Pilsen food pantry operating safely.

Jillian Scherer, MD from Olney on ABC7 Chicago on March 18 sharing about how her Direct Primary Care practice got creative to obtain respirators – from her community.  She was featured on NBC 5 Chicago on March 23 - an indication that her situation was still dire.

Paul Ravenna, MD appeared live on WGN Radio on February 28 to help bring context and perspective to the fast evolving Coronavirus 

Kevin Most, DO – used his regular appearance on WGN radio March 2 to discussion updates on Coronavirus and also the primary care physician workforce shortage and urged Congress to support and fully fund the Teaching Health Care program.