Report: COVID-19 Widens Disparities in Rural Illinois, Recommends Rural Health Improvements Illinois Rural Health Summit Organizers Convened Discussion Forums, Authored Report March 30, 2021 (Springfield, IL) - A new report 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 found that the pandemic has negatively impacted preexisting health disparities in rural Illinois as