Advocate COVID Hospitalizations Hit Record High

ILLINOIS — Advocate Aurora Health hospitals currently are treating the most COVID-19 patients since the beginning of the pandemic.

As of Sunday, there were 1,426 people hospitalized at the 26 Advocate Aurora hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin. That number has more than doubled in one month as omicron infections continue to rise dramatically.

Prior to Sunday, the highest patient count was recorded on Nov. 23, 2020, when there were 1,182 COVID-19 patients at Advocate Aurora hospitals.

Throughout the state, 4,679 Illinoisans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday, including 1,010 in intensive care and 565 on ventilators. Statewide, just 313 ICU beds were still open — not only for COVID patients, but also for victims of heart attacks, strokes, gunshots and all others.

RELATED: Delay Elective Procedures Amid COVID Surge, Pritkzer Urges

Here is a look at the Advocate hospitals in Illinois currently treating the most COVID patients:

1. Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn: 269
2. Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge: 126
3. Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest: 97
4. Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove: 73
5. Advocate Trinity Hospital: 72
6. Advocate Condell Medical Center: 70
7. Illinois Masonic Medical Center: 68
8. Sherman Hospital: 62
9. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital: 61

Of those currently hospitalized, 92 percent are unvaccinated, have only received one shot or are eligible to receive a booster shot and have not. The remaining 8 percent who are fully vaccinated are mainly those who are immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions, such as COPD or diabetes, officials said.

“This is largely a problem of the unvaccinated,” said Advocate Aurora Health Chief Medical Group Officer Dr. Jeff Bahr during a Monday press conference.

Staffing issues within the medical field have been an ongoing issue but have become more of a problem in recent weeks.

“That has accelerated due to fatigue, stress and also as team members become sick from COVID,” said Advocate Chief Nursing Officer Mary Beth Kingston on Monday. “We know it’s a stressful time for all, but we do ask for everyone’s patience and kindness as we navigate through this extreme surge.”

Health officials urged those who have not to get vaccinated. Handwashing, wearing masks and choosing to avoid social gatherings, especially for the unvaccinated, will be needed to overcome this surge, they said.

Meanwhile, the current surge is expected to get worse, officials said Monday.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association urged hospitals to postpone non-emergency surgeries as the state sets new records for daily coronavirus infections.

On Dec. 30 — the last day for which data was available — the state reported 30,386 new coronavirus cases, five times higher than the same day last month and more than double the previous daily record set amid last fall's surge.

As of Christmas Day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the highly contagious omicron variant accounted for nearly 59 percent of all new cases in the country — despite previously slashing its estimates by nearly 50 percentage points.

State health officials expect the number of omicron infections to rise dramatically in the coming days, driven by holiday gatherings, and say the state's hospitals could soon feel the strain.

"We are preparing for a continuing post-holiday surge, and with hospital staff already working so hard, I appreciate the work hospital leadership is doing to assure capacity, including postponing non-emergency surgeries and procedures to ensure their ability to handle serious COVID cases and other emergencies without putting patients at risk," Pritzker said in a statement. "To all Illinoisans: please understand that the nation is experiencing high COVID transmission rates, and some surgeries in Illinois will be postponed. We're asking our residents to temporarily hold off on important medical care like tonsillectomies, bariatric surgeries and hernia repair. As we work to keep ICU beds open, I continue to applaud the efforts of our hospitals and healthcare workers across the state, who have been heroes for us all."

Bahr said Advocate medical centers have delayed or postponed, but not cancelled, certain procedures “to times and places where there is appropriate staffing and space capacity to perform those surgeries and procedures safely,” Bahr said Monday.

“We are not delaying cancer treatments or cancer diagnosis or life-saving surgeries and procedures,” he said. “We have not stopped elective surgeries all together. Just simply because not all of those procedures result in a hospital stay or take an excess amount of hospital staff. But where it does benefit us to help our COVID population, we are creating space and freeing up staff for that higher need population.”

More than 7.7 million Illinoisans are vaccinated with 2 shots — about 60.5 percent of the state's population. Just over 3 million boosters have been administered statewide, meaning only about a quarter of Illinoisans have adequate protection against omicron.