Eric DeGrechie

Eric DeGrechie follows how health risks, policies and community safety issues unfold at the neighborhood level, turning agency alerts and complex guidance into clear, local coverage for the communities he edits for Patch.

He is an editor with Patch and has more than 25 years of experience in journalism and media, having previously worked in a range of newsroom leadership and reporting roles. His current coverage focuses on towns including Northbrook, Glenview, Deerfield, Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove, alongside other nearby suburbs. Across these areas he combines breaking news, public health updates and local features, often packaging multiple threads into accessible briefings for residents.

Neighborhood health risks and disease surveillance

DeGrechie’s most consistent health work centers on communicable disease and environmental health risks, especially West Nile virus surveillance in local mosquito populations. He reports when mosquitoes test positive for West Nile virus in specific communities such as Northbrook, Glencoe and Niles, attributing findings to local agencies and detailing where the virus has been detected. In coverage amplified across North Shore communities, he cites information from the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District to show how WNV-positive mosquitoes spread across towns including Glenview, Evanston, Northbrook and Wilmette.

His reporting on these alerts is practical and geographically precise: headlines and copy spell out which neighborhoods are affected, which testing sites or traps produced the positive results, and how current detections compare with prior seasons. In year-end retrospectives looking back at coverage in places like Northbrook, he highlights stories on West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes as key public health moments for the community. The effect is a steady, recurring thread of disease surveillance coverage that keeps residents apprised of seasonal vector-borne risks in their immediate environment.

Pandemic and school health policy briefings

During the COVID-19 pandemic, DeGrechie has taken on the task of explaining health policy changes as they affect daily life, particularly in schools. In his coverage of Illinois school mask obligations, he outlines what is changing on a specific Monday and structures the piece as a morning briefing, telling readers “Here’s everything you need to know to get this Monday started off right.” Within that format he breaks down shifting state or district mask rules, timelines and practical implications for students, families and staff.

He also contributes to broader informational coverage tied to Illinois COVID-19 vaccine information and statewide pandemic recovery, situating local policy and behavior within the larger public health context. These pieces mirror his approach on disease alerts: concise, schedule-driven updates that translate official guidance into everyday terms for the communities he covers. His work in this area positions him as a useful explainer of how public health decisions and mandates filter down to local institutions.

Public health people and institutions

Beyond alerts and policy, DeGrechie profiles individuals whose work shapes public health in his coverage area. In a feature on an Arlington Heights native recognized for public health work, he reports on a local graduate of Buffalo Grove High School who has been named to the de Beaumont Foundation’s annual “40 under 40” list for public health employees. The piece connects the honoree’s national-level recognition to their roots in the local school system, grounding an abstract public health accolade in community identity.

This type of coverage shows his interest in institutions and professionals that influence population health, not only outbreaks or mandates. By highlighting the career paths and achievements of public health employees, he brings human detail into a beat that can otherwise be dominated by statistics and agency statements. It also demonstrates his habit of tying health-sector developments back to familiar local touchpoints like schools and long-time residents.

Community safety coverage with health implications

As an editor overseeing multiple towns, DeGrechie also handles a broad range of community safety and crime stories that intersect with health, injury and risk. In reporting on a fatal stabbing outside a gym, he incorporates medical examiner findings, noting that the victim died from multiple injuries due to an assault and that the manner of death was ruled homicide. In another story on a Palatine raid, he documents the seizure of drugs, guns, body armor and fireworks, framing the incident as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation and signaling its implications for local safety.

His multi-item roundups frequently link these types of incidents with health-related updates in the same communities. One briefing pairs a gas line fire that closes a recreation center with a report of a woman drowning in a home pool and a notice that mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus. The format underscores how infrastructure failures, accidents and disease threats coexist in the local risk landscape, and how residents encounter them together rather than in isolation.

Across this work, DeGrechie’s editing and reporting style favors concise, fact-driven updates rooted in official sources, whether they are public health agencies, law enforcement or courts. He draws on his long experience in newsroom management and reporting to cover multiple suburbs simultaneously, maintaining a steady stream of health alerts, policy explainers, public health profiles and safety stories that keep his communities informed.