Lunch & Learns

Joining a Lunch & Learn is a great way to stay up-to-date and connected on how Community Health Workers (CHWs) can be empowered to provide care in their communities.

Other Events and Trainings:

September 30, 2025: Join IPHA and the Immunize Illinois Coalition on September 30, 2025, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM for a virtual training titled, “Right on Time! Boosting Immunization Rates with Reminder Recall.”  The training will discuss the free Reminder Recall Program from Televox, sponsored by Pfizer, for keeping patients up to date on their vaccines. Click here to register.

September 30, 2025: Join the Immunize Illinois Coalition and partners on September 30 at 7:00 PM to recognize the value of vaccination, review why the Vaccine Integrity Project is important and needed, understand the impact of vaccine preventable diseases, discuss how providers support families with vaccinations throughout life, and explore resources. Click here to register today for the virtual rally celebrating the value of vaccination.

October 16, 2025: The Little Resource Center and Southern Illinois Resource and Advocacy Center are hosting a Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Training on October 16 from 3:00 – 5:00 PM in Carbondale. Participants will gain the knowledge and tools needed to understand, present, and educate others on the signs, effects, and causes of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Click here to learn more and register.

October 17, 2025: The Illinois Community Health Workers Association (ILCHWA) 2025 Annual Chicago Summit is being held at the Hilton Hotel on Cicero in Chicago, on October 17, 2025, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Click here to learn more and register.

IPHA 84^th Annual Public Health Workforce Conference CHW Award Recipients

IPHA received a plethora of amazing nominations for the conference awards. We appreciate all the nominating and nominated individuals and organizations! We would like to extend congratulations to the award recipients below. You will find a quote with each recipient that was included in their nomination.

CHW Supervisor of the Year: Jeanette Avila – Sinai Urban Health Institute

“Jeanette Avila began her journey in public health over 15 years ago, starting as a recruiting assistant and steadily advancing to her current role as Community Health Worker (CHW) Manager. Her rise through the ranks is not only a testament to her dedication but also to the profound and lasting impact she has made on individuals, communities, and the CHW profession itself. Jeanette’s work has consistently centered the voices and needs of underserved populations. Her leadership is rooted in cultural humility, deep community trust, and an unwavering commitment to health equity.”

CHW of the Year: Amanda McKinley – Greene County Health Department

“Mandy is passionate about her community and has dedicated her time and expertise to developing connections and relationships with the various religious, civic, volunteer, and not-for-profit organizations within Greene County. She initiated a successful foot care clinic in the county, recruited qualified employees, and distributed flyers to all locations that would accept them. She is kind, bold, and adds a touch of humor when discussing health initiatives.”

CHW Employer of the Year: Carle Health

“Carle Health recognizes the value that CHWs are adding to the overall improvement of each client that is served. The CHWs screen each client for self-sufficiency and Social Drivers of Health. Based upon these screenings, the CHWs are then able to develop goals with the client in order to achieve improved self-sufficiency and overcome barriers. As of June 2025, the CHWs have established 669 goals, and the clients have met 402 of those.”

Illinois Poison Center

The Illinois Poison Center (IPC) is dedicated to reducing harm due to a poisoning, defined as an exposure to a potentially harmful substance that can or has caused an unwanted and/or unexpected reaction, as minor as a rash, stomach ache/headache or as serious as hospitalization. Potentially harmful substances can include: medicines, dietary supplements, household and automotive products, beauty and self-care products, plants, food, and even clean water.

A trusted resource, IPC’s 800-222-1222 helpline is available to the public and healthcare professionals 24 hours a day, year-round. The IPC team is made up of highly trained clinical staff who serve the state of Illinois in a variety of ways:

• By providing trusted information and treatment advice through the free, confidential helpline led by IPC medical experts including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.
• By cultivating relationships with organizations and volunteers who help educate the public on potentially harmful substances and poison prevention.
• By helping monitor and provide surveillance for public health outbreaks that involve food, illicit drugs, and infectious diseases such as H1N1, Ebola, and coronavirus.

IPC is the oldest and largest poison center based on population served and has an over 70-year history of handling a variety of common and not-so-common cases and calls. For example:

• The Tylenol®-cyanide deaths, which rattled Chicago and the entire nation back in September 1982: Working through a crisis like the Tylenol®-cyanide tampering has helped IPC staff plan and prepare for any current or future wide-scale public health emergency or mass casualty event. In 1983, the U.S. Congress passed what was called the “Tylenol bill,” making it a federal offense to tamper with consumer products. In 1989, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established federal guidelines for manufacturers to make all such products tamper-proof.
• In 2007, IPC was called about a family that had eaten fish bought at a local market, which brought on strange neurological symptoms and weakness. The family said they had made soup with puffer fish, which is illegal in the U.S. due to a concern for puffer fish poisoning (e.g. tetrodotoxin), a report was made to the local public health department, which notified the state public health department, which in turn called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FDA. Over 5,000 pounds of potentially deadly puffer fish were recalled because of this public health investigation.

Learn about the calls and cases IPC handles on a typical day by clicking these links: English Spanish. Click here for common calls such as medication errors and interactions.

IPC saves the people of Illinois $60 million annually by resolving 92% of poisoning calls and cases from the public over the phone. This success rate prevents unnecessary 911 calls and visits to a doctor or hospital.

IPC provides community health workers and anyone living or working in Illinois ages 13 and older with a free online Poison Prevention Education Course. The course is available in English and Spanish and provides a foundational understanding of what the national 1-800-222-1222 helpline does for individuals and their community. Members of the public can also access free educational and promotional materials to share with their communities (available in multiple languages). These opportunities help prevent unwanted and/or unexpected reactions to medicines, cleaning substances, beauty/healthcare products, plants, environmental toxins, and more.

IPC campaigns and materials provide free online education, resources, and chances to win prizes. The annual Education Referral Campaign offers a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card! Take the Poison Prevention Education Course for the first time or refer someone to it between now and October 31 for a chance to win. Click here for details: English flyer Spanish flyer

“IPC’s 1-800-222-1222 helpline is free, confidential, and focused on best outcomes for the caller. Everyone is treated equally. I absolutely love working on behalf of and with the IPC team. There’s no question or issue too big or too small—or too embarrassing. Just call!”

– Vickie Dance, MS, IPC Public Education Manager

IPC is a service of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. Follow the links below for more information.

• Illinois Poison Center Website
• Illinois Poison Center Blog
• Illinois Poison Center “My Child Ate” Online Triage Resource
• Illinois Poison Center Facebook Page
• Annual Education Referral Campaign Flyer (English) (Spanish)
• Free Online Poison Prevention Education Course (English) (Spanish)
• A Day in the Life of a Poison Center Specialist (English) (Spanish)

Community Health Workers: Don’t Neglect Your Own Cup

By Sarah F. Dix, IPHA Intern, Training and Community Engagement Program

I attended the IPHA 84^th Annual Public Health Conference hosted in Bloomington, Illinois as an intern of IPHA and a student at Eastern Illinois University. I participated in sessions all three days and listened to public health professionals share their knowledge and experience. I felt passion, a sense of pride, and love for the communities from every person I had interactions with. I witnessed people from many different agencies collaborate instead of competing with one another. It was inspiring to be in a room of hundreds of people that were all dedicated to helping others. There were several takeaways from this conference I will apply in my personal and professional life.

In the community health worker field, we pour into members of our community. We offer a connection to resources to help people and advocate for health equity. We also instill a sense of hope, a comforting face to turn to in difficult times, and we pour life back into our communities. From this conference, it was clear that we pour ourselves into our career of helping those in our community as well.

 In the session Behavioral Health CHW’s Journey to Healing led by Kim Jay, Training Manager and Senior Community Health Worker at Sinai Urban Health Institute, she spoke about secondary traumatization. Secondary traumatization is the emotional impact from exposure to trauma from others. This can occur from trauma resurfacing from interactions with clients, friends and family, social media, or even the cultural climate.

Kim Jay then asked a question that resonated with me, “How do you deal with your trauma?” As a person that is called to serve people in their community, it is easy to get swept away in taking care of others while often neglecting ourselves. The truth of the matter is life can be hard, and some days can feel heavier than others. The pressure to navigate during a time of uncertainty and provide concerned people in our communities answers that we are struggling to find is hard. The political climate and social media are charged with negativity and hostility, and it is hard to absorb that this is the world we are living and raising children in. After being exposed to trauma by assisting our clients, friends, and families, we are experiencing secondary traumatization daily in our lives.

It is crucial now more than ever that we pour back into our own cups so that we can pour into our community at our highest capability. Whether it is a good cry in silence on the way home from work, giving yourself time to read that book that’s been collecting dust on your shelf, or attending a therapy session not as the therapist, DO IT. Schedule it. Make time for yourself. Recharge your social and emotional battery so you can continue to show up as a community health professional, spouse, mother, father, sibling, friend, etc.

As community health workers we provide support, empathy, and self-love to those we serve. It is easy to give advice, but it is more difficult to apply the same support to ourselves as we do others. Regardless of the form, trauma is trauma, and we could all give ourselves a little more grace. Take time to deal with your trauma before it resurfaces in your professional and personal life. Take the power you have to speak life into others and refill your own cup.

Help Us by Taking a Brief Survey 

In 2024, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) released an updated Practitioner Fee Schedule, outlining Medicaid reimbursement rates for physicians and other healthcare providers. This revision expanded the scope of reimbursable services to include new professions. Doulas and Certified Lactation Counselors are now able to bill Medicaid for services provided to eligible individuals. In late 2026, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are expected to be added to the fee schedule, enabling them to bill for services that address health-related social needs (HRSNs).

To support communities in adapting to these changes, Community Care Hubs are being developed. These Hubs—whether local or regional—are designed to function as support networks for healthcare providers and community-based organizations (CBOs). By coordinating resources and services, they help organizations collectively address a broad range of HRSNs that individual entities may not have the capacity to manage on their own.

To help communities in Illinois navigate this evolving landscape and optimize both health outcomes and financial sustainability, the Help.Guide.Thrive. Operations Hub (HGT Hub) was established as a statewide Community Care Hub by three Illinois-based nonprofits.

We invite you to complete a brief survey to help us understand your current capacity, identify your needs, and shape services that reflect your community’s priorities.  This survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

As updates become available—such as information related to Community Health Worker (CHW) certification, 1115 waivers, and CHW billing codes—we will share information with those who complete the survey.

Have a safe month,

Tracey Smith, Associate Executive Director for Public Health Practice at IPHA, Director of the CHW Capacity Building Center and Claire Hughes, IPHA Program Manager.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. 

We strive to keep CHWs, their employers, educators, and allies informed and connected. If you would like to contribute information for a future newsletter, please contact Mariah Menietti at mmenietti@ipha.com. We look forward to showcasing ways in which CHWs are making an impact in Illinois.