CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox recently reported its COVID-19 hospitalizations are at an all-time high.
“We're experiencing a surge like many other people in the area,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Chris Udovich. “We currently have about 142 COVID positive inpatients right now.”
The most overwhelmed department is the intensive care unit, which, as of Wednesday, has negative bed capacity.
Udovich told WBBM Newsradio there are three patients holding an ICU status that are still being treated in the emergency room.
To address the alarming rate of COVID-19 cases, Silver Cross activated its surge plan which includes mobilizing staff to areas where they’re most needed and reconfiguring hospital space.
“We've taken areas that would traditionally be surgical rooms and waiting rooms and made them into medical surgical, so we're currently holding over 50 people in nontraditional rooms,” he said.
Silver Cross also postponed elective surgeries for the next two weeks and implemented a ‘no visitor’ policy until further notice.
The positivity rate for the south suburban region, including Will and Kankakee counties, has increased to 20.7% and just 4% of ICU beds are available.
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