Palos, Oak Lawn-Area Nursing Homes Feel Toll of Coronavirus

COOK COUNTY, IL — A seventh person tied to the Bridgeview Health Care Center has died of coronavirus. Cook County Medical Examiner reports confirmed that a 102-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions died Saturday at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Between March 29 and April 10, six elderly people whose addresses match the nursing home's at 8100 S. Harlem Ave., Bridgeview succumbed to coronavirus, according to the medical examiner. All six died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, which is treating a majority of the South Side's most critical cases.

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Families with loved ones at the nursing home claim the only communication they have received about the coronavirus situation inside the Bridgeview facility was a letter mailed to their homes in late March. A statement on Bridgeview Health Care Center's website confirming that several residents had tested positive for COVID-19 and acknowledging the death of one resident who had only been in the nursing home’s care for a short time remains unchanged since March 26.

The total number of deaths associated with Bridgeview Health Care Center's address could be as high as nine, family members told Patch. The governor ordered nursing homes to suspend outside visitors in March to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

New data released Sunday by the Illinois Department of Public Health paint a grim picture of the COVID-19’s pervasiveness in Illinois’s nursing homes, which account for 1,860 of the state’s 30,357 cases and 286 deaths. Symphony of Joliet leads the state with 81 confirmed coronavirus cases and 21 deaths, and media reports indicate the death toll is even higher than reported by the state.

The database features data from every nursing home and assisted living throughout the state's 102 counties reporting confirmed coronavirus cases. The virus is present in 100 nursing homes, the state health department said.

Here’s a look at IDPH coronavirus cases and deaths in Oak Lawn and Palos area nursing homes:

Bridgeview Health Care Center
Confirmed Cases: 21
Deaths: 7

Vera Care Burbank
Confirmed Cases: 6
Deaths: 3

Chicago Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation
Confirmed Cases: 11
Deaths: 0

Grace Point Place Memory Care (Oak Lawn)
Confirmed Cases: 11
Deaths: 4

Lexington of Chicago Ridge
Confirmed Cases: 17
Deaths: 3

Manor Care Oak Lawn East
Confirmed Cases: 8
Deaths: 1 (Cook County Medical Examiner, April 18)

Manor Care of Oak Lawn West
Confirmed Cases: 10
Deaths: 1 (Cook County Medical Examiner, April 6)

Manor Care of Palos Heights West
Confirmed Cases: 17
Deaths: 4

Manor Care of Palos Heights East
Confirmed Cases: 4
Deaths: 1

Midway Neurological and Rehabilitation (Bridgeview)
Confirmed Cases: 13
Deaths: 3

Sunrise of Palos Park
Confirmed Cases: 2
Deaths: 1

More on Patch:

Pritzker Gathering Data Before Extending Stay-At-Home Order

6 With Same Nursing Home Address Die Of Coronavirus