3 Lake County ICUs Reach Capacity With Coronavirus Patients

WAUKEGAN, IL — Staff at three Lake County hospitals notified local public health officials Wednesday that the intensive care units at their facilities had reached capacity due to increasing numbers of patients with COVID-19, a county spokesperson confirmed. Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and Lake Forest Hospital and Vista Medical Center in Waukegan ran out of beds in their intensive care units, WGN-TV first reported Thursday.

Patch reached out to all three hospitals and got varied responses regarding bed capacity issues.

Vista Medical Center was at capacity for only a few hours on Wednesday, hospital officials said. Additional staffing was brought in, discharges occurred and beds were again available. It was the first time in the past month ICU beds reached capacity and Vista is prepping to handle another surge,Norman Stephens, Vista Health System chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Prior to the pandemic, Vista had 16 ICU beds but has now expanded its capacity to 49 ICU beds, according to a spokesperson.

"We have full confidence we will continue to be able to care for the most critical COVID-19 patients," Stephens said. "Lake County residents should rest assured; we are here to care for you during these unprecedented times."

Meanwhile, Lake Forest Hospital spokesperson Jill Edgeworth did not specify the hospital's expanded bed capacity, citing the rapidly evolving situation, but said the hospital has not needed to transport any patients to other facilities and remains able to care for any patients who arrive at its doors.

"Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital has implemented our surge plan, which we have carefully planned for, and are prepared to take care of our community in whatever situation presents itself," Edgeworth said. "While we do have 12 state-licensed ICU beds, in response to COVID-19, we have significantly increased our ICU beds and have the capacity and flexibility to care for additional patients should the need arise."

As for Advocate Condell Medical Center, the hospital's spokesperson did not specify if intensive care unit beds hit capacity this past week but added the hospital in Libertyville had opened a designated ICU overflow unit as part of its "planning and preparedness efforts."

The move will increase the hospital's "ability to treat critically ill patients," Lisa Parro, content strategy manager for public affairs and marketing at Advocate Health Care, told Patch in an email.

Patch also asked the hospital's representatives if they felt prepared to adequately handle COVID-19 cases in the coming days but has not yet gotten a direct response.

Ventilators remain available for everyone who needs one, according to Chris Covelli, a spokesperson for the Lake County Joint Information Center, which is handling media requests to the health department. Wednesday night was not the first time a hospital in the county has reached capacity, but so far no patients have needed to be transported to any alternative care facilities, Covelli said.

"At this point, the hospitals have not requested the Health Department establish an alternative care facility, however, the Health Department continues to evaluate this need on a daily basis," he said.

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There are other hospitals in the county whose intensive care units, or ICUs, still have room or are expanding their capacity, Covelli added, noting hospital administrators coordinate with one another and the county to redirect patients.

As of Thursday, he said, the county has sufficient capacity for COVID-19 patients as well as other non-COVID patients.

Lake County Health Department officials have so far declined to disclose information about the county's hospital and ICU bed capacity, citing the hour-by-hour fluctuations.

"There are days a hospital might be close to capacity and within hours, they are well below," Covelli explained.

But earlier this week, Gov. JB Pritzker released an update on the ICU capacity of hospitals across the state. It showed that the north suburban region, stretching from Evanston to Lake Forest, had the fewest ICU beds available.

As of Monday, 125 of the the 10-hospital region's 150 ICU beds were full — more than 83 percent. Statewide, about twice as many ICU beds were being used to treat coronavirus patients as to treat non-COVID patients, according to data from the governor's office.

Data provided by a health care analytic company and last updated March 17 showed Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital with 12 ICU beds, Advocate Condell Medical Center with 17 and Vista Medical Center with 23.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were 1,124 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 29 deaths in Lake County.

The largest number of cases was reported in Waukegan, where between 230 and 234 coronavirus infections have been detected. Highland Park followed with 75 to 79 cases and Lake Forest reported between 55 to 59 cases, according to health department data.

Patch editor Amie Schaenzer contributed.

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