Officials are set to hold a press conference this week as a family demands answers after a hospital patient died after she was found unresponsive on the rooftop of Vista Medical Center in Waukegan.
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 sometime after being admitted to the hospital.
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.
Adolphus’s brother, Paul Adolphus, told WGN that he met with hospital officials on Friday who confirmed that his sister was found on the roof and she “slept on their roof.”
“It’s not fair that my sister’s life was in their hands. She came here because she trusted Waukegan Vista Hospital, that she was going to be better from rehab from drinking,” he said.
“Doors should be locked. Doors should be very secured,” he told WGN. The family is considering legal action against the hospital.
Newton said the hospital notified the Lake County Coroner’s Office minutes after Adolphus was pronounced dead 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 into the “unusual circumstances.”
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 came just two weeks after Vista Health System announced it was furloughing 69 workers from Vista Medical Center East due to financial issues.