Officials Phase Out Hospital Site Beds At McCormick Place

CHICAGO, IL — State and city officials continue phasing out beds at the alternate care facility dedicated to patients of the coronavirus at McCormick Place. This comes a week after Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced in a joint statement that as a result of flattening the curve in the number of state coronavirus cases, the McCormick Place ACF "will stop operating its clinical needs testing phase."

"All patients currently receiving care at McCormick will continue to receive outstanding medical care for the duration of their illness and plans for deconstruction are currently underway," Pritzker and Lightfoot stated.

The two officials added that the unit inside the alternate care site with the negative pressure tents will remain assembled to continue upholding the facility’s original mission, as city and state officials monitor hospital capacity once elective surgeries start up again.

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"The McCormick Place Alternate Care Facility was originally developed out of an abundance of caution and based on data projections of over 40,000 hospitalizations in matter of weeks, and the facility was meant to relieve that anticipated pressure on our local healthcare systems," Prizker and Lightfoot stated.

The Illinois National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 600 Chicago labor union workers put in more than 60,000 man hours in two weeks to build 2,500 rooms and outfit the McCormick Place Alternate Care Facility with 100 new water lines, 1,000 electrical outlets and more than 100 data lines used to store data and more quickly admit patients.

RELATED:

• Coronavirus Hospital At McCormick Place Set To Open Next Week
• Plan Could Turn McCormick Place Into Field Hospital Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
• Will Coronavirus Push IL Hospitals To Capacity Tipping Point?

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