Inside Advocate Aurora Health, a Consideration of an Unprecedented Year | Chicago News

(WTTW News)

There is a normal sensation in the COVID-19 unit at Advocate Trutel General Hospital in Park Ridge. But a year ago, providers were afraid of the worst.

“We weren’t ready as a nation,” said Dr. Robert Citronberg, Head of Infectious Diseases and Prevention at Advocate Aurora Health. He says the doctor was stuck because of the onslaught of a little-known incident about the virus.

“We didn’t know how to properly ventilate them. We didn’t know which drugs worked or didn’t, so we were really blind,” Citronberg said.

He states that the first wave of COVID-19 resulted in high mortality, many patients died alone and were embarrassed about what was happening to them.

“I saw some patients saying exactly the same thing —” I don’t know how bad this is. I should have taken it more seriously. “—And it was just before they put on the ventilator or just before they died,” he said.

Sweta Ghandi, clinical manager of the COVID-19 unit at Lutheran General, said: She said the enthusiastic pace and constant death had hit health care workers and some quit their jobs.

“I’ve seen many patients transitioning to hospice and ending their lives, but they couldn’t handle it anymore,” she said.

(Courtesy of the proponents of Aurora Health)

“This was very stressful and very fast,” said Jim Skogsberg, CEO of Advocate Aurora Health. He said stress was exacerbated by the rapid decline in the supply of gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment.

“We searched for personal protective equipment not only in the country but throughout the globe,” he said.

To combat some of the fear and uncertainty, Skogsberg took on the unlikely role of TV presenter and presenter. He launched a biweekly program with “Chicago Tonight” style interviews to disseminate information to 75,000 employees of the healthcare system.

“Use this medium, this venue to convey what is happening, remain transparent, clarify where to go and how to get there, during times of such stress, conflict and tension.” Said Skogsberg.

The size of the advocate, with hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin, allowed the movement of equipment and staff from one location to another during the peak of the pandemic, but said it was important for organizing the organization. He says.

By the end of summer, the number of inpatients had dropped to about 200 per day. But when the second wave struck in October, the incident surged again.

(WTTW News)

This time, Gandhi says her staff are ready to save more lives with proven treatments, such as turning patients who have difficulty breathing into the stomach.

The next hurdle for the hospital was to persuade non-coronavirus patients to return for routine care and elective surgery. The decline in these services due to the high cost of COVID-19 has almost wiped out the system’s finances.

“2020 was a financial disaster,” Skogsberg said. “Disasters that have not been mitigated.”

But thanks to federal bailouts and the recent increase in non-coronavirus operations, the system has recovered, Scogsburg said.

To see how quickly things have changed: At the latest peak in late November, there were approximately 1,200 COVID-19 inpatients throughout the healthcare system. That number today is 170.

Hospital officials say most staff have been vaccinated and believe the worst is over. But they say they learned how quickly things get worse.

“We have made great strides, but now is not the time to relax our vigilance,” said Citronberg.

“We have the following: We are ready for whatever happens,” says Skogsberg.

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Advocate Aurora says it treated about 3 million patients across Illinois and Wisconsin last year.

Follow Paris Schutz on Twitter. @paschutz

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