Three hospitals in Lake County have reached ICU capacity due to coronavirus patients and the health department is considering setting up alternative care facilities to expand capacity.
The three hospitals include Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Lake Forest and Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, sources told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
The Lake County Health Department did not name the hospitals but confirmed that intensive care units at three hospitals in Lake County had reached capacity but still had enough ventilators.
Lake County Joint Information Center Spokesman Christopher Covelli said that hospital capacity is constantly fluctuating. Several other hospitals in Lake County continue to have ICU capacity for patients, Covelli said.
The health department remains in close contact with all hospitals in Lake County and so far none have asked for assistance with standing up alternative health care facilities, Covelli said.
However, the health department is strongly considering setting up the facilities should the need arise, Covelli added.
“It’s also important to note the hospitals are working very closely with one another as well. So if one hospital is nearing or at capacity in the ICU, a patient can be transported to a different hospital. As of now, there is sufficient capacity in Lake County for COVID-19 patients and other patients,” Covelli said.
On Wednesday, the Lake County Health Department reported 119 new cases of Lake County residents with coronavirus and one new death since Tuesday. That brings the total number of cases in the county to 1,044, including 23 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon.
The health department is investigating 20 long-term care facilities in the county that have two or more positive cases, officials said. These 20 facilities have a combined total of 150 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The names of the long-term care facilities are not being released by the Lake County Health Department due to privacy concerns, health officials said.