CHICAGO (WLS) — Ambulances are being directed away from Chicago’s Weiss Memorial Hospital due to an air conditioning failure.
The staff has transferred most patients other hospitals, but is still looking for help.
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The emergency room is re-directing ambulances, but is still open for walk-ins.
Hospital officials said it might take a few more days before things get back to normal as repairs are made.
In a statement, Weiss Memorial called what happened “a catastrophic loss” of its air-conditioning system.
They didn’t say what caused the outage, but blamed previous owners of the hospital for not properly maintaining the hospital’s aging infrastructure.
When the outage happened, several patients could be seen being put in ambulances outside the emergency room entrance.
According to Weiss, their team has moved the majority of their patients to their affiliated hospital, West Suburban Medical Center. They’ve also contacted other hospitals for assistance.
Some who have been inside the hospital, said the conditions are uncomfortable.
“I can’t even sleep at night,” said Steven Acosta, a patient who was discharged. “The room’s vent is supposed to blow air, but it’s only blowing hot air—there’s no AC working. Honestly, it feels like an oven.”
Weiss Hospital says the outpatient areas and its supporting areas have not been affected by the a-c outage and will stay open.
Hospital management said after the repairs are done, the hospital will need to be cooled to a certain temperature before normal operation can resume.
Hospital leadership will provide an update on Wednesday afternoon, the spokesperson said.
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