A family has identified a female patient who went missing at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan and then died after she was found unresponsive on the hospital’s rooftop.
A woman was admitted to Vista Medical Center East, 1324 North Sheridan Road in Waukegan, on Tuesday for a medical issue, according to Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton.
The woman went missing at a currently unknown time and date.
She was found on the hospital’s rooftop around 8:45 a.m. Thursday.
Newton said the woman was found unresponsive suffering from cold exposure.
She was brought from the rooftop to the emergency room where staff provided treatment, including warming her body temperature.
The woman was pronounced dead around 11 p.m. Thursday, Newton said.
Her family identified her to Lake and McHenry County Scanner as Chelsea Adolphus, 28, of Waukegan.
A nurse initially inaccurately told Adolphus’s mother that her daughter had been found in the parking lot covered in ice, her family said.
Newton said the hospital notified the Lake County Coroner’s Office minutes later about the death with “unusual circumstances” but the hospital had not contacted the Waukegan Police Department yet.
The coroner’s office notified the police department, which met the coroner’s office at the hospital to start an investigation.
An autopsy was performed on Adolphus on Friday at the coroner’s office but the coroner has not released the results.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said the investigation is ongoing in conjunction with police and details are still developing.
“Further information will be released early next week at a joint press conference that will be announced,” Banek said.
The incident comes just two weeks after Vista Health System announced it was furloughing 69 workers from Vista Medical Center East due to financial issues.