Reports released by Southern Illinois University (SIU) Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy, SIU Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, and the SIU Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development provide a better understanding of the challenges rural and underserved communities have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each report addressing a different topic provides recommendations on how to build a healthier rural Illinois during and following the pandemic. *All links open as a PDF Overview Document

The following press releases describe the results of reports released by Southern Illinois University (SIU) Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy, SIU Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, and the SIU Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development. These reports describe how rural Illinois has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and recommendations on how to build brighter futures for those communities during and following the pandemic. Read More: Report, Webinar Focus on Impact of COVID-19 and the

Closing Care Gaps with Telehealth Expansion in Illinois A global pandemic has accelerated the use of telehealth services to keep patients healthy at home and to protect health care professionals on the front lines. Across the country, academic medical centers like SIU School of Medicine (SIU SOM) are using emergency, temporary rules for telehealth to reach medically underserved populations in small urban and rural areas in need of better health outcomes. Health disparities and care gaps for rural and underserved communities preceded COVID-19 and will remain when the crisis has ended. It’s time

Nathalie Foray, DO is a pulmonologist in SIU’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She completed her residency and pulmonary medicine fellowship at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, IL and completed further subspeciality training in Critical Care Medicine at The University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, TN. Upon graduating, she joined on as faculty at SIU. In addition to providing care in the intensive care setting, Dr. Foray also sees pulmonary patients in the outpatient setting. She treats a myriad of patients in pulmonary medicine, including but not

Nathalie Foray, DO is a pulmonologist in SIU’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She completed her residency and pulmonary medicine fellowship at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, IL and completed further subspeciality training in Critical Care Medicine at The University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, TN. Upon graduating, she joined on as faculty at SIU. In addition to providing care in the intensive care setting, Dr. Foray also sees pulmonary patients in the outpatient setting. She treats a myriad of patients in pulmonary medicine, including but not

Madeleine Hoffman, MS, APRN, FNP-C graduated with honors and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Phi Pi Chapter. She is a dedicated, results-oriented, innovative Advanced Practice Registered Nurse with 10 years of critical care nursing experience and expertise in providing intensive care and promoting quality of life. Madeleine specializes in Rheumatology and provides optimal patient centered quality care in patient populations with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, gout, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and fibromyalgia. By utilizing a

Madeleine Hoffman, MS, APRN, FNP-C graduated with honors and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Phi Pi Chapter. She is a dedicated, results-oriented, innovative Advanced Practice Registered Nurse with 10 years of critical care nursing experience and expertise in providing intensive care and promoting quality of life. Madeleine specializes in Rheumatology and provides optimal patient centered quality care in patient populations with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, gout, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and fibromyalgia. By utilizing a

Growing up in Chicago, Cynthia Thomas, MD, didn’t always dream of being a doctor, but she wanted a career where she could help others and excelled at math and science in middle school. After hearing about the shortage of doctors in underserved areas of her community, in high school she decided that medicine was where she wanted to be. While life’s twists and turns moved her out of her Chicago community and to Springfield with her husband, her passion for community and family medicine moved with her. After graduating from SIU School of Medicine in 1991 and completing her residency in 1994, Dr

Growing up in Chicago, Cynthia Thomas, MD, didn’t always dream of being a doctor, but she wanted a career where she could help others and excelled at math and science in middle school. After hearing about the shortage of doctors in underserved areas of her community, in high school she decided that medicine was where she wanted to be. While life’s twists and turns moved her out of her Chicago community and to Springfield with her husband, her passion for community and family medicine moved with her. After graduating from SIU School of Medicine in 1991 and completing her residency in 1994, Dr

Growing up in Chicago, Cynthia Thomas, MD, didn’t always dream of being a doctor, but she wanted a career where she could help others and excelled at math and science in middle school. After hearing about the shortage of doctors in underserved areas of her community, in high school she decided that medicine was where she wanted to be. While life’s twists and turns moved her out of her Chicago community and to Springfield with her husband, her passion for community and family medicine moved with her. After graduating from SIU School of Medicine in 1991 and completing her residency in 1994, Dr