Coronavirus: New Lenox Hospital Must Care For Stateville Inmates
NEW LENOX, IL — Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox confirmed it will take two inmates from the Stateville Correctional Center for treatment of the new coronavirus. This comes after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised hospitals resources, but also threatened to publicly rebuke those who refuse to treat inmates in his March 31 update.
"We will work with local departments of public health to get [hospitals] all the equipment and support that we can," Pritzker said. "But hospitals that refuse to take on residents of the Department of Corrections will be called out by name ... and will be compelled to do so by law."
According to WJOL Radio, Silver Cross Hospital will comply with a letter from the Illinois Department of Health Emergency Management Services to "load share" with other hospitals. Morris Hospital, Riverside Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital will also provide care to inmates.
The hospital told WJOL it received a letter from the Illinois Department of Public Health Emergency Medical Services division chief "stating that we must take 2 prisoners from Stateville."
As of Tuesday, Silver Cross spokesperson Debra Robbins said the hospital was already treating 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and has an additional 44 people under investigation for the virus.
"Since the onset of the COVID-19 situation, our occupancy rate is lower since we have canceled all elective surgeries and services," Robbins said in an email. "That has freed up a considerable amount of capacity, which we continue to monitor daily."
The hospital and Illinois Emergency Management Agency have also preemptively set up emergency cots in an outdoor tent in case there is a drastic increase in patients.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Corrections announced Monday that the Stateville center had its first coronavirus death. At least 77 other prisoners are being kept in isolation because of COVID-19 symptoms, as well as 11 staff members. Because of the outbreak, the National Guard will be deployed to create a temporary medical facility on the grounds of Stateville.
"Despite these measures, any and every one of our [Department of Corrections] residents who falls seriously ill with COVID-19 will receive available medical assistance to get through it, including an ICU bed and a ventilator, if necessary," Prtizker said. "An incarcerated person is a person and my administration will not be in the business of claiming one life is worth more than another."
As of Wednesday morning, Illinois has a 5,998 presumptive coronavirus cases and has seen 99 deaths. Eight of those deaths are in Will County, where Silver Cross Hospital is located.
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This article originally appeared on the New Lenox Patch
