Lisa Schencker

Lisa Schencker is a Tribune business reporter covering health care. She writes about patients, hospitals, health insurers and pharmaceutical companies. Before joining the Tribune in 2016, she worked at Modern Healthcare and at daily newspapers across the country, including the Salt Lake Tribune for seven years.

Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood on Aug. 20, 2026. The hospital was closed in August 2025 by its for-profit owner, Resilience Healthcare. Insight Health Systems is now poised to take over Weiss and West Suburban Medical Center. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Potential buyer of Weiss and West Suburban hospitals has mixed track record

October 26, 2026 at 6:14 p.m.

Insight Chicago owes tens of millions of dollars to the state, and its Bronzeville hospital has been cited for numerous safety issues.

A crowd cheers in support of nurses from Endeavor hospitals during a rally in Evanston on Oct. 23, 2026. Nurses across Endeavor’s four north suburban hospitals have filed a petition to hold a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. (Nate Swanson/for the Chicago Tribune)

Nurses at Endeavor Health’s hospitals in Evanston, Glenview, Skokie, Highland Park move to unionize

October 23, 2026 at 3:58 p.m.

If the election is successful, nurses at Endeavor’s hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park, Skokie and Glenview would be represented by Teamsters Local 743.

Abbott Laboratories at Abbott Park on June 25, 2018. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Abbott Laboratories plans to spin off nutrition business, following years of tumult over infant formulas

October 21, 2026 at 3:20 p.m.

Abbott Laboratories plans to spin off its nutrition business into a separate company – a move that follows years of tumult over its infant formulas.

Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on July 19, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)

Endeavor Health and Rush University System for Health announce plans to merge

October 14, 2026 at 5:38 p.m.

A union between Endeavor Health and Rush University System for Health would create one of the largest health systems in Illinois.

Edward Hospital, now called Endeavor Health Edward Hospital, in Naperville on June 27, 2016. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)

1,000 nurses at Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville move to unionize

October 13, 2026 at 3:17 p.m.

Nurses at Endeavor Health Edward Hospital have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election – part of a broader effort by nurses across...

Flags fly near the entrance to the Walgreens Boots Alliance headquarters, the parent company of Walgreens, on Nov. 10, 2023, in Deerfield. (Scott Olson/Getty)

Owner of Walgreens reaches deal to sell UK pharmacy chain Boots for $8.9 billion

October 7, 2026 at 3:34 p.m.

The agreement to sell Boots comes a little more than a year after a private equity firm bought Walgreens Boots Alliance, and separated Walgreens and Boots into standalone companies.

A parking lot in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood across from a mostly vacant West Suburban Medical Center on June 1, 2026, in Oak Park. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Lawmakers and deputy governor discuss West Suburban hospital’s future in meeting that’s short on details

October 6, 2026 at 1:14 p.m.

Last month the owners of West Suburban Medical Center reached a settlement agreement that’s expected to result in a sale of the hospital to Insight Health Systems.

The University of Chicago Medical Center in Hyde Park on Nov. 13, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

UChicago Medicine plans $328M lab facility and expanded job training with City Colleges on the South Side

October 5, 2026 at 5:48 p.m.

UChicago Medicine plans to spend nearly $328 million to construct a four-story laboratory facility about a mile from its flagship hospital.

Roseland Community Hospital on July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Roseland hospital closing labor and delivery unit, leaving patients with fewer options on the South Side

October 2, 2026 at 4:02 p.m.

Leaders of the Far South Side hospital did not make the decision to suspend the services “by choice,” hospital President and CEO Tim Egan said in a statement Friday.

Teresita V. Morales’ longtime partner, Euġen Cuťa, has lived in nursing homes for the past 16 years after suffering a stroke. Cuťa, pictured on Sept. 28, 2026, recently received a letter from the state saying that he will lose Medicaid coverage as of Oct. 1 because of HR1, which bars certain types of immigrants from receiving Medicaid. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

About 9,300 immigrants in Illinois to lose Medicaid this week because of One Big Beautiful Bill

September 28, 2026 at 5:58 p.m.

Immigrants including refugees, human trafficking survivors and people who’ve been granted asylum but don’t have green cards are slated to lose their Medicaid coverage after Sept. 30.

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