By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Suicide has not necessarily touched State Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), but she’s hearing more about it.

“One of the things that really raised it for me is I have a lot of college interns every summer,” Steans told a statehouse news conference Wednesday. “One of the first things that they raise that needs to happen on college campuses is suicide prevention. They all know somebody on their campuses who has committed suicide.”

Steans has introduced a bill creating an Illinois Office of Suicide Prevention and requiring the Illinois Suicide Prevention Alliance to develop a strategy.

Other bills introduced this year would help police and fire employees; and require colleges and universities to provide more mental health services.

Steve Moore, Illinois co-chair of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, says many suicides make a doctor or ER visit in the weeks or months before taking their own lives.

“The first line of defense against suicide is your primary care doctor,” said Moore. “A lot of people get their behavioral health medication from their primary health care physician. That is the one that ought to be doing the screening and assessment and appropriate referrals.”

Moore and Steans stood in front of an eight-foot poster reading HOPE, with flower petals — each one representing a suicide — spelling out the letters.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]