Illinois Quick Hits: Union County state’s attorney says Choate will stay open
(The Center Square) – Union County State’s Attorney Tyler Tripp has announced that the Illinois Department of Human Services formally requested to withdraw its request for closure of Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.
Tripp said on Tuesday that the IDHS move came in response to his lawsuit against the closure and removal of access to inpatient treatment beds at Choate.
Tripp said the state agency now plans to reduce the number of mental health beds at Choate from 75 to 25 and still plans to remove up to 15 more beds serving people with developmental disabilities.
Treasurer announces charitable trust grants
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs has announced more than $178,000 in charitable trust grants to ten nonprofit organizations that provide job training and food.
The Charitable Trust Stabilization Fund assists small nonprofits that have annual budgets of $1 million or less and at least one full-time employee. The grant money comes from fees that larger nonprofits pay when they file annual reports with the Illinois Secretary of State.
The application period for the next round of grants will begin Jan. 1.
Projected grain tour sales drop from 2025 total
The Illinois Department of Agriculture says projected sales from the two 2026 Illinois grain tours will total $205.2 million, down from an estimated $236 million in projected sales from the 2025 grain tours.
IDOA said the 2026 Middle Eastern and Asian tour had projected sales of $120 million, while the Latin American tour had projected sales of $85.2 million.
The agency said final figures would not be known for some time.
Study ranks Illinois ninth for malpractice payments
A new study says Illinois is ninth in a list of states with the highest medical malpractice payments.
Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers found that the average malpractice payment in Illinois was $601,531. No other Midwest state ranked in the top ten. Connecticut topped the list at $731,499.
According to the American Medical Association, the average of the 50 largest malpractice verdicts in the U.S. climbed from $32 million in 2022 to $56 million in 2024.
Cook County medical examiner named to national post
Cook County’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, was appointed president of the National Association of Medical Examiners at the organization’s annual conference this week.
Arunkumar joined the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as a fellow pathologist in 2003, became deputy chief medical examiner in 2012 and chief medical examiner in 2016.
Sunny
