COVID cases at Will County hospitals holding steady

COVID-19 cases at Will County Hospitals are holding fairly steady.

Still, the South Suburban Region, which includes Will County, is still seeing a decline in available medical surgical and intensive care unit beds.

Here are the numbers as of Wednesday.

Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox is caring for 76 COVID-19-positive patients and one person awaiting test results, according to Silver Cross. In addition,11 patients are in the intensive care unit and five are on ventilators.

On Tuesday, Silver Cross had 76 COVID-19-positive patients, 15 patients in the ICU and six on ventilators, Silver Cross said.

AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet is caring for 55 COVID-19-positive inpatients and has 16 people awaiting test results, said Timothy A. Nelson, spokesman for AMITA Health.

On Tuesday, Saint Joseph had 57 COVID-19-positive inpatients, Nelson said.

AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook is caring for 22 COVID-19-positive inpatients and has three people awaiting test results, Nelson said.

On Tuesday, Bolingbrook had 24 COVID-19-positive inpatients, Nelson said.

Edward Hospital is treating 79 inpatients with confirmed cases of COVID-19. Two inpatients with a confirmed case of COVID-19 have died over the past 24 hours, said Keith Hartenberger, system director and public relations for Edward-Elmhurst Health.

Ten inpatients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were discharged from Edward Hospital over the past 24 hours, Hartenberger said.

On Tuesday, Edward Hospital was treating 79 inpatients with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Edward Hospital’s sister hospital, Elmhurst Hospital, is treating 45 inpatients with COVID-19. Two inpatients with COVID-19 have died over the past 24 hours.

Seven inpatients with a confirmed case of COVID-19 were discharged from Elmhurst Hospital over the past 24 hours, Hartenberger said.

On Tuesday, Elmhurst Hospital, was treating 53 inpatients with COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has 16.4 % of its medical/surgical beds available and 17.9 % of ICU beds. The state’s minimum threshold is 20%, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

According to the IDPH, 28 out of 162 staffed ICU beds are available

Health care consultant Jeffrey R. Softcheck said in a Nov. 19 Herald-News story that the situation becomes critical once a region reaches 10% of available beds.

Once a hospital’s capacity becomes really low, hospitals may have to make critical decisions on who does and does not receive care, he said.