IHA Daily Briefing: May 27

Breakout Sessions at IHA Small & Rural Hospitals Meeting June 18
Illinois House Deputy Minority Leader Norine Hammond will share her insights into successful advocacy during a breakout session at the 2026 IHA Small & Rural Hospitals Annual Meeting June 18 in Springfield. With nearly 30 years in public service, Deputy Minority Leader Hammond has represented the 94th district, consisting of 13 west-central Illinois counties, since 2010.

She will present "Advocacy That Works: A Leader's Toolkit," one of three breakout sessions at this year's IHA signature event for small and rural hospital and health system leaders. The other sessions are:

• "Strengthening the Healthcare Workforce: Statewide Insights and Rural Solutions," presented by Holle Collie, MS, RN, LDN, Vice President of Operations, SSM Health Illinois, and Allison Sours, President and CEO, Graham Hospital; and
• "Using Chronic Conditions Data to Enhance Population Health," presented by IHA's COMPdata Informatics.

The sessions will spotlight strategies to cultivate positive, ongoing relationships with elected officials; practical approaches to recruitment, retention, and staff development; and chronic conditions as a key indicator of population health.

See our registration website for more information on the Annual Meeting and June 17 pre-conference workshops. IHA's discounted room rate at the Crowne Plaza Springfield ends today. Click here to register for the Annual Meeting.

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IDPH: Emerging Substances in Illinois Unregulated Drug Supply
The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) issued a Health Advisory yesterday warning of reports of overdoses relating to cychlorphine, a novel synthetic opioid, and "pink cocaine" a mixture of various substances including ketamine, MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids. IDPH said naloxone and opioid reversal agents are recommended to treat overdoses of both, but noted that additional doses may be required in the case of cychlorphine overdose. The Department directed clinicians and responders contact the Illinois Poison Center for support with suspected overdoses with atypical symptoms at 1-800-222-1222. Please review the IDPH Health Advisory for additional information and guidance.

Microsoft Identifies Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting Healthcare
Microsoft Threat Intelligence issued a security warning highlighting a sophisticated, large scale, multistage phishing campaign that disproportionately targeted the healthcare sector. The campaign sent "code of conduct" themed emails to lure users into credential theft and token compromise. According to Microsoft, healthcare was the most targeted industry in the campaign, which reached more than 35,000 users across over 13,000 organizations, with most targets located in the U.S. The attack leveraged adversary in the middle techniques to intercept authentication tokens in real time, enabling attackers to bypass multifactor authentication and gain direct account access.

The campaign underscores the health sector's continued attractiveness to cybercriminals due to sensitive patient data and operational pressures. Hospitals and health systems are encouraged to strengthen phishing resistant multifactor authentication, email security controls, and workforce awareness to reduce risk.