54 Coronavirus Patients At Elmhurst Hospital

ELMHURST, IL — As of Monday, Elmhurst Hospital had 54 patients with confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. "They are being cared for in multiple units in the hospital where appropriate isolation measures can be taken," spokesman Keith Hartenberger said in an email Monday morning.

Hartenberger, who was responding to an inquiry from Patch, said beds were still available for treatment of coronavirus patients, though he did not indicate how many. According to the hospital's website, it has 259 private patient rooms.

Illinois Coronavirus Update April 6: 11,256 Cases; 274 Deaths — Don't miss updates in Elmhurst as they are announced — Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Hartenberger said Elmhurst Hospital currently has an adequate supply of ventilators, which state and federal officials expect may run short in the coming weeks and months.

Elmhurst Hospital is part of a chain of two acute care hospitals; the other is in Naperville. While Elmhurst Hospital's release of the coronavirus case number may seem normal, not all hospitals are releasing such information. Amita Health, which also runs a chain of hospitals in Illinois, had declined to divulge hospital-specific information, including in Hinsdale and La Grange. But the hospital chain reversed itself after Patch showed that Elmhurst released the same information without any issues. The Hinsdale and La Grange have 11 and 17 coronavirus cases, respectively, Amita said Monday afternoon.

As of Sunday, DuPage County reported 647 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 22 deaths.

Naperville has the highest number of any town in DuPage County, with 50 cases and one death, according to the county's health department. In the last few days, it passed Willowbrook, which reports 48 cases and seven deaths, largely attributed to an outbreak at a nursing home. Elmhurst has 28 cases, including three deaths.

Naperville, which is mostly in DuPage County, is the biggest town in the county. (Aurora is split between four counties.)

Late last week, the Amita chain indicated it had 220 cases across 14 of its hospitals but said it would not release hospital-specific figures. That information may be relevant because governors around the country have issued stay-at-home orders to "flatten the curve" and reduce the number of patients at local hospitals. This, they said, would prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.

At a March 23 La Grange Village Board meeting, member Bill Holder, a La Grange hospital foundation board member, said one person tested positive for the coronavirus and a few people were under observation in "negative pressure rooms," which are meant to prevent cross-contamination from room to room. In an email to Patch on Friday, Holder questioned why the patient number was important.

"Of what use is that number anyway, when it changes daily?" he said. "If you really want to do the community a service, tell them that you think half the population of La Grange is infected, so everyone should stay away from everyone else so that you don't infect anyone you love or get it to give to others. Seriously, there is a surge coming. All this is far from over."

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Illinois Coronavirus Update April 6: 11,256 Cases; 274 Deaths