A Look at COVID Cases at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn
Image from Google Maps.
By Irene Romulo
Confirmed COVID cases in Cicero and Berwyn have gone up by 354% and 118% percent in the last 14 days, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health data portal. On December 29, 2021, town of Cicero’s president Larry Dominick, issued an executive order allowing restaurants and bars to operate indoor seated areas at 100% capacity and banquet halls to operate at 50% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less, removing past restrictions.
Starting on January 3, 2022, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues in Cook County must require that patrons show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Neither the town of Cicero’s nor the City of Berwyn have responded to questions about how the order will be enforced in Cicero and Berwyn.
Cicero Independiente spoke to Dr. Charles Bareis, chief medical officer at MacNeal hospital, the closest hospital for many Cicero and Berwyn residents, to help us understand the local impact of the rise of COVID cases.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Cicero Independiente:
What is happening inside MacNeal Hospital?
Dr. Charles Bareis:
So we've seen an increase of patients coming to our emergency departments with upper respiratory illness or symptoms of COVID of all different levels of severity, some quite severe and some not severe at all.
Cicero Independiente:
How does that compare to previous weeks?
Dr. Charles Bareis:
During the very height of the pandemic in March and April of 2020, our inpatient volumes peaked in the 90s. Our total number of patients is usually around 190. Just this last June, when we saw COVID decrease across the country and in our area, we actually went several days without any COVID patients. Lately those numbers have steadily increased. We're now in the low 40s as far as overall numbers of COVID patients. We are seeing patients in the intensive care unit, we are seeing patients get intubated and unfortunately, the vast majority of those patients are unvaccinated. But, while we have open beds in our ICU, the problem is the lack of ICU nurses and staffing.
Cicero Independiente:
Why is that a problem?
Dr. Charles Bareis:
Health care worker burnout is a very real phenomenon. We've had nurses leave to retire early, to move on to other careers because they're just exhausted and burned out. And then, especially the last two weeks, we’ve seen an increased number of staff, especially nurses, who are out with COVID. Everybody talks about maybe Omicron isn't quite as severe as delta but it's certainly very contagious. If a healthcare worker has it, whether it's severe or not, they can't work and so they can't take care of the patients in the hospital.
Cicero Independiente:
What does this shortage mean for the care of people who are coming in?
Dr. Charles Bareis:
Right now we are able to stretch and get by but it's very hard on the existing staff. They're working even harder when they are already sort of stretched. There are some folks who wonder, is it really that bad? Do I really need to get a vaccine? Well, it really is that bad and they really should get a vaccine because there is a limit to what folks can endure and what hospitals can handle. Right now we have enough staff, we have enough beds, enough medications and ventilators so at least in our community people shouldn't panic, they shouldn't be afraid to come to the hospital, we have capacity, we can take care of them. But our hospital is stretched like every other hospital.
Cicero Independiente:
What would you say to those people who don’t think omicron is a big deal?
Dr. Charles Bareis:
If you're a 70 year old or an 80 year old or a younger patient, perhaps with diabetes, yes, it can be that bad. Maybe in the young, healthy, 20 year-old or in the younger vaccinated patients, maybe Omicron may not be as bad as delta as far as number of hospitalizations and number of deaths but we don't really have a lot of great data on that yet. That doesn't necessarily hold true for everybody, depending on their individual health status and their age. So it is still deadly enough that we need to respect it and take all the proper precautions. Right now, there is not enough data to know if an infection with Omicron may potentially yield what they call longhaul symptoms, even for “healthy” patients.
Cicero Independiente:
What are the most important things you want people to know?
Dr. Charles Bareis:
I think the two most important things are wearing masks and getting vaccinated. Then it’s about doing your very best job to isolate, if feasible, from large gatherings. Try to avoid large gatherings, being very careful and cautious when you socialize with others or socialize in public. I totally realize that that's very challenging with family and the holidays. I faced the same challenges too but those are the sorts of things we probably ought to dial back on right now, especially during this surge.
I think it's continuing to nudge your close friends and neighbors and relatives who perhaps have been vaccine-unsure or vaccine-hesitant and to reach out to them directly and tell them how much you love them and how much you want to continue to love them. At the end of the day, it comes down to caring for one another. I think that's where we can each have our own impact.
Irene Romulo is an editor and contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente. You can follow her on Twitter @ireneincicero or email her at irene@ciceroindependiente.com
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