Suburban hospitals add rooms, beds for COVID-19 patients – will they be enough?
The Daily Herald analyzed the capability of Chicago-area hospitals to handle a rapid influx of COVID-19 patients. Illinois Department of Public Health officials on Wednesday reported more than two-thirds of the 2,589 intensive care unit beds in Illinois' hospitals are already in use, and one-third of the state's 2,164 ventilators are also taken by current patients, the vast majority of whom are not suffering from coronavirus infections. SPH's Dr. Ron Hershow, professor of epidemiology, said that social distancing measures are key in the effort to control hospital admissions.
Dr. Ron Hershow Quote Heading link
The strategies we’ve implemented will help keep the curve flat, but some of the models are disquieting and show that even with a moderate outbreak, the kind of negative impact that will have on our health care system. We’re going to need ICU beds to handle any influx of patients.
| Professor of Epidemiology