Manny Ramos

Emergency alert: Belmont Cragin stay home October 3, 2025 Icirr eyes on ice update: since approximately 11am today the rapid response network verified the presence of federal agents in Belmont Cragin, zip code 60639 at Walmart on diversey and kilPatrick, Cicero and north, Home Depot at Cicero and armitage We recommend community members to stay home, multiple arrests have been made. Ice is still in the area. To report any possible ice activity, or if you know someone who has been detained please call the family support hotline at 1-855-435-7693

ICE all across the northwest side of Chicago with hotspots in Hermosa and Belmont Cragin. There is a recent development in Logan square as well around Central Park and armitage where videos and eyewitnesses are sharing tear gas thrown at protesters trying to intervene.

Illinois health officials recommend COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, contradicting feds The new guidance follows an executive order signed by Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this month aimed at expanding access for COVID-19 shots and other vaccines across the state.

Illinois takes a jab at CDC chicago.suntimes.com/health/2025/...

Sorry, Trump: Chicago Is Not The 'Murder Capital Of The World' — Not Even Close, Data Shows Chicago has been a political punching bag for decades, and while there is crime here, statements about it being a "hellhole" are just plain false. “There are just a lot of cities that have higher homi...

Chicago isn’t a “hellhole.” And funds Trump might use to deploy National Guard troops here would be better spent investing in long-term social-safety-net programs already helping reduce the city’s violent crime, experts say. blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/05/s... via @blockclubchi.bsky.social

A DOJ lawyer accused Harvard of ‘indifference to antisemitism.’ As a Harvard undergrad he wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective. - The Boston Globe Michael Velchik once also told a peer that "Mein Kampf" was among his favorite recent reads.

New story w/ @hilaryburns.bsky.social:
A DOJ lawyer accused Harvard of ‘indifference to antisemitism.’ As a Harvard undergrad he wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

Some Call It The ‘Death Hospital’: Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems. Outstanding work from @mannyramos.bsky.social and @blockclubchi.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

This investigation required digging through thousands of pages of public records and interviewing dozens of people. It examined our health care system through this one hospital but it isn't the only one operating like this. I hope you give it a read.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Staff and patient's greatest fear happened in 2022. When a 27-year-old woman who fainted came to the hospital by an ambulance struggling to breathe. She was never medically assessed and died while in the ER's waiting area.

Then there was the patient experience. One patient said her mother's tracheostomy was clogged and struggling to breathe. She sat waiting for hours before her daughter demanded immediate help. Then, nurses tried plugging the suction machine in the wall but there was no power.

Nurse said they sometimes have to feed patients themselves since the cafeteria sometimes runs out of food. Another ER Tech said one day they only had eggs to feed patients. He quit shortly after that.

Staff shared stories that they believe are placing patient in danger. This includes an ER tech who was asked to do medication pushes and on one occasion doing a jugular IV on a patient. These things go beyond what they were license to do.

We examined years of Medicare Cost reports to try and understand the health of the hospital. And what experts told us is the hospital appears to be in a "financial death spiral"

These records painted a picture of declining patient volumes and decreasing revenue.

Yet, in at least one grant, the hospital said it was using the money to help renovate a behavioral/mental health unit at the facility. But as reported this WGNTV, the hospital seemingly stiffed the contractors hired to do it. wgntv.com/video/northw...

This comes as the hospital has received at least $75 million in state and fed taxpayer grants since 2020. Most government agencies won't say if an audit was conducted of where the money went while one agency said the hospital has not complied with requests to review documents.

Doctors and nurses have tried to perform miracles when medical gloves, thermometers, saline flushes, and other essential supplies and equipment were scarce. The hospital has 17 x-ray machines down — one of the most in the state.

Beds have been broken. Air conditioners have stopped working. Elevators were deemed unsafe and shut down. A parking garage was condemned. Water pipes burst. Biohazard waste and normal garbage cross contaminate.

Community First Medical Center is a for-profit safety-net hospital in Portage Park that provides care to a large population of low-income patients. The hospital has developed a reputation among the neighborhood that have residents scared to go there for care.

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

There is a lot going on in the world, but I am popping back in this space to share a yearlong investigation we published today about a hospital on Chicago's Northwest Side that some call the "Death Hospital."

Here's why:
blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

Some Call It The ‘Death Hospital’: Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s..., reports @mannyramos.bsky.social

Come work with us!

📢 DREAM JOB ALERT: @blockclubchi.bsky.social is hiring an Investigative Editor to help lead our award-winning investigative team, The Watch.

Deadline: 6/27 Learn how to apply here: blockclubchicago.org/were-hiring-...

Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers A Guardian investigation finds insurer quietly paid facilities that helped it gain Medicare enrollees and reduce hospitalizations. Whistleblowers allege harm to residents

UnitedHealth Group paid nursing home thousands to stop transferring ailing patients to hospitals to save the company millions. One former worker described the practice as "Well, they’re medically frail, and no one lives for ever.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

As Chicago’s Domestic Violence Crisis Deepens, Victims Suffer In Silence DeMarie' Williams didn't seek help from authorities before her boyfriend beat her to death, prosecutors say. As essential services for domestic violence victims are threatened by funding cuts, advocat...

A heart-wrenching story about the domestic violence crisis in Chicago as victims often suffer in silence. Read @minabloom.bsky.social recount the tragic story of DeMarie' Williams and how her story is sadly too common.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/05/20/a...

Block Club Chicago Finalist For Driehaus Foundation Investigative Reporting Award Reporter Manny Ramos' investigative series "CTA In Crisis" is nominated for the Driehaus Foundation Awards, which highlight the imperative impact and importance of investigative reporting in the state...

Incredibly proud of @blockclubchi.bsky.social investigative reporter @mannyramos.bsky.social, who is a finalist for the Driehaus Foundation Investigative Reporting Award for his series “CTA In Crisis."

blockclubchicago.org/2025/05/15/b...

Here's Kevin Jackson, who did 23 years & was rejected twice by the CIU, though the evidence against him consisted of statements witnesses recanted before trial. A cop in his case married a prosecutor in the unit. Footage by Abel Uribe, editing by @msivit.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwr8...

Desperate For Answers, Logan Square Assault Survivors Urge Neighbors To Pack Upcoming Police Meeting With no updates from police, several victims of sexual and physical attacks have banded together to speak out about their assaults, which date back to at least 2022 and remain unsolved.

With no updates from police, Logan Square victims of sexual and physical attacks have banded together to speak out about their assaults, which date back to at least 2022 and remain unsolved. They're encouraging the community turn out for a CAPS meeting next week. blockclubchi.co/416NPG5

Trump moves to stop congestion pricing tolls in New York City The tolling program launched on Jan. 5 after years of delays.

So, if in fact terminated, MTA won't get that critical funding to upgrade its deteriorating transit system.
gothamist.com/news/trump-m...

City crews removed tents at the Gompers Park tent encampment on one of the coldest mornings of the year. https://buff.ly/3D19RSL

Read this close look at the tenant organizing efforts and how they were told on Christmas Eve they will need to find a new home from @arielparrella.bsky.social

As Another Logan Square Apartment Building Goes Luxury, Longtime Renters Fight To Stay New building owners plan to rehab each apartment and raise rents to bring them up to market value for the neighborhood, but tenants worry the common practice will displace more working-class families.

New landlord says he is being "nice" by kicking long-time tenants out or raising the rent by 25% so they can stay a few months longer before they're kicked out so he can build luxury apartments. But hey, they can come back if they can afford the $2,400 rent.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/01/23/a...