Vol. IV No. 14 Loyola establishes C COVID-19 funds, PAGE 3
COVID-19 cases rising rapidly But county website showing spread of viral disease in suburbs went dark last week
APRIL 1, 2020
theVillageFreePress.org
John Prine hospitalized, PAGE 5
OPENING UP? : A peak inside of Westlake Hospital’s empty emergency department. Lawmakers are urging the state to reopen the Hospital amid the COVID-10 pandemic. MICHAEL ROMAIN
By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
The number of COVID-19 cases in some Proviso Township suburbs is rising rapidly, but residents last week had a hard time accessing the Cook County Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Surveillance Data portal, which is the best tool for tracking confirmed cases within individual suburbs. After apparently going dark for a day, the site was back running on Sunday, albeit with multiple reports of people getting disconnected from the server. According to the public health department’s data, as of March 28, the number of COVID-19 cases in Bellwood was at 20 — up from the eight confirmed cases the department reported on March 26. In Maywood, the cases are now at 12, up from six just two days ago. Melrose Park, which had fewer than five cases on March 26, was at exactly five on March 28. See COVID-19 on page 8
As COVID-19 spreads, will Westlake reopen? Authorities mum on status of shuttered hospital as demand rises for medical facilities By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
As the number of COVID-19 cases grows exponentially, state officials, public health experts and medical professionals are anxiously anticipating an overwhelming surge in demand for hospital beds, ventilators, personal protective equipment like masks and space. Last week, local nonprofit leaders and elected officials called for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to reopen multiple hospitals that have
closed across the state, including Metro South Medical Center in Blue Island, Vibra Hospital in Springfield and Westlake Hospital, 1225 W. Lake St. in Melrose Park, in order to help meet the demand for additional medical capacity. On a recent trip to the shuttered Melrose Park hospital, a prominent sign announcing that the emergency department was closed greeted the rare visitor, but the automatic doors still slid open to reveal an empty reception area. What appeared to be a hospital bed sat at the far end of an empty
hallway. Although local and state officials appear poised to reopen at least one closed hospital in Illinois and are in talks about possibly transforming a convention center into a field hospital, it’s still unclear whether or not Westlake Hospital will come back online amid the COVID-19 crisis. On March 25, CBS 2 reported that state officials have “identified as many as 7,000 more available beds; from Chicago to the now-shuttered Westlake Hospital in Melrose See WESTLAKE on page 3
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