(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Lake County officials shared more details after a woman was found dead on the roof of a Waukegan hospital. One official is calling for the hospital to be held accountable.
Chelsea Adolphus, 28, was found unresponsive on the roof of the Vista Medical Center East on Thursday. She was pronounced dead later that day.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek shared the official cause of death was hypothermia.
Family members say Adolphus was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday, but then went missing and may have wandered up to the roof where she was found wearing only her hospital gown in frigid temperatures.
The coroner who once worked at the hospital, said she has had plenty of safety concerns with the facility over the years, even warning just last year that lives were at stake.
Banek also touched on recent furloughs at Vista, including a position that likely would have been monitoring Adolphus in her room.
She has ordered the hospital to preserve all evidence and wants the Illinois Department of Public Health to get involved as well.
Family members who spoke with reporters on Monday say they are devastated.
There have also been allegations hospital staff misled Adolphus's family about her whereabouts and a lack of staff that may have prevented the tragedy.
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