Illinois COVID 19 Update: Hospital Workers Feel Overwhelmed by Rise in COVID-19 Patients Statewide; Naperville hires more nurses, expands units

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) – Hospital staff are feeling the strain as hospital admissions continue to rise to record numbers.

As of Thursday evening, 5,352 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized in hospitals in Illinois. Patients include 990 ICU beds and 488 ventilators.

Naperville’s suburban hospital system has also seen another outbreak of COVID-19.

“It’s just crazy, you know. We are trying to find staff. We are trying to bring in people from other units to help us, ”said Karly Sacco, nurse at Edward Hospital.

“Mentally it’s as exhausting as the first one if not more,” said Haley Dahlstrom, nurse at Edward Hospital.

Hospitals know which treatments work best. Nurses say remdesivir, blood thinners, and convalescent plasma are key treatments for the COVID-19 virus.

“We have taken a big step forward to help these people recover much faster,” Sacco said.

There are currently nearly 200 patients with COVID-19 at Edward and Edward-Elmhurst hospitals. The age of the patients is younger than in the spring and there is more unpredictability.

“30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. I mean you can’t see, and it’s not because they have co-morbidities. I always say it’s like in a weird way a Russian roulette, like if there was no rhyme or reason as to which person is going to be sicker than the other, ”Sacco said.

Edward Hospital CEO Joseph Dant said the increase in the number of cases could lead to delays in elective surgeries.

“We predicted a winter push in late fall. I’m not sure we predicted it would be that high, that fast,” Dant said.

Edward Hospital is looking to hire more nurses and medical staff as well as expand COVID-19 units as the statewide positivity rate increases.

Nurses said the workload was not only exhausting but also mentally exhausting.

“Several days you get in your car and cry,” Sacco said.