Silver Cross implements surge plan
Coroner seeks help as COVID-19 cases rise in Will County
Hospitals in Will and Kankakee counties continue to feel the pinch of increasing COVID-19 cases, and the Will County coroner’s office is seeking to hire temporary deputy coroners to help deal with the virus’ impact.
Coroner Laurie Summers said Thursday three deputy coroners were self-isolating due to possible COVID-19 exposure. Two deputy coroners, one who was self isolating and another who has been on vacation, are expected to return to work next week, but Summers says she needs additional help to cover illnesses and the office’s increasing caseload due to the pandemic.
Region 7, which includes Will and Kankakee counties, Thursday reported a test positivity rate of 20.7%, the highest in the state, and the lowest percentage of intensive care unit and hospital beds available at 10.9% and 14.9%, respectively.
“We certainly hope that everyone is going to wake up and realize what’s at stake here,” said Steve Brandy, spokesman for the Will County Department of Health.
The state target is to have at least 20% of ICU beds and medical/surgical beds available in a region’s hospitals. On Thursday, only one other region in the state, Metro East near St. Louis, had
numbers below the 20% threshold. While the Metro-East region had 24.4% of ICU beds available, it reported only 15.5% availability for medical/surgical beds.
Officials at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox have had to implement the hospital’s surge plan to deal with the influx of patients. As of Thursday, the hospital was treating 126 COVID-19 patients.
Of those patients, 123 had tested positive for the virus and three others were patients under investigation awaiting test results. Seventeen of those patients were in the intensive care unit, and of those eight were on ventilators.
About four weeks ago, Oct. 22, the hospital was only treating 45 COVID-19 patients, with six in the ICU, said Debra Robbins, director of marketing and community relations. Nov. 5, the hospital had 91
COVID-19 patients, with 10 of those patients in the ICU, she said.
“Our emergency room has been extremely full night after night,” Silver Cross President and CEO Ruth Colby said during a Monday news conference with Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
She said hospital workers were “weary” and that the “pandemic has taken it’s toll.” On Monday, she said more than 60 hospital workers were not able to report for work due to COVID-19 exposure outside of the hospital and urged residents to help keep health careworkers safe.
“Please help stem the growth of this disease; especially over the holidays,” Colby said.
Though admissions are up, Colby said the hospital continues to serve patients. On Thursday, Robbins said the hospital has not had to turn away any patients and that the hospital remains safe for patients.
“If you’re having a medical emergency of somekind, don’t wait to seek medical care,” Robbins said. “We’re here and we’re safe and we’ll take care of you.”
She said hospital staff continues to use personal protective equipment and patients are screened for COVID-19 symptoms upon admission.
Summers, who was elected coroner in November, said she is applying for an $8,000 grant through the county’s share of CARES Act funding to help cover the cost of having two temporary deputy coroners on hand through the end of the year. The deputies, who work in coroner’s offices in Lake and Iroquois counties, would be available on their days off to assist in Will County.
Summers said during the campaign the coroner’s office was understaffed and expressed her hope to bring two full-time deputies on staff. But she said this request was sparked by the recent COVID-19 exposures among deputy coroners and the increasing case load.