COVID-19 Resurgence has “Taken Its Toll” on Hospital Workers
Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise around the state, and hospital officials say its taking a toll on medical staff.
State statistics show on September 19, around 1,400 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19. As of Sunday night, that number was around 5,600. ICU beds are filling up and case numbers don’t appear to be dropping anytime soon.
“As we continue to have the volumes go up, it is very difficult for our staff to continue the long hours and resources are going to dry up,” said Dr. Michael Kulisz, Chief Medical Officer of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb.
DeKalb County’s positivity rate has grown from 3.8% in late August to 13.4%. Neighboring Ogle County and Boone County are both reporting positivity rates over 20%.
“Our hospitals are on their way to being overwhelmed,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “Our doctors, nurses, and health care workers are already being stretched beyond their limits.”
The issue isn’t limited to one area.
Ruth Colby, President & CEO of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, in Will County, says 60 employees couldn’t come to work Monday because they contracted or came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
“What we’re seeing is our staff contracting and being exposed to the disease in small community gatherings or in places that people are not wearing masks,” said Colby. “That makes it more and more difficult to take care of people.”
Will County has had challenges keeping its positivity rate in check. The county had a spike in rates in late August, leading to mitigations from the state, but positive tests dropped to 5.3% in early October. The positivity rate has now climbed to 17.5%.
“Every time someone in the community doesn’t wear a mask, that creates the potential for a health care worker to contract COVID,” Colby said.
Dr. Ezike says infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths won’t get in check until the public starts to “buy in.”
“I don’t know how else to express the importance of personal responsibility,” she said. “It is each individual’s action, my actions, your actions, all of our actions, that will dictate our path forward.”
Ezike says the issues aren’t going away, but we can limit the struggle.
“We are in for a rough ride for the next three months or so,” she said. “Just how bumpy it gets is up to each of us.”
