CHICAGO (WGN) — Weiss Memorial Hospital, in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, expects to be without air conditioning for “several days” after the system experienced a “catastrophic” failure, hospital officials said in a Tuesday statement.
Resilience Healthcare blamed the failure on aging infrastructure. The company said the hospital’s previous owners failed to properly maintain the system. Resilience acquired the facility from Pipeline Health in 2022.
The company did not specify when the air conditioning failed. Temperatures on Tuesday reached into the 90s and are expected to remain elevated, especially over the weekend and through Monday.
As a precaution, hospital officials said most Weiss patients have been transferred to the company’s West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park.
Weiss, at 4646 North Marine Drive, will maintain its outpatient and supporting areas, and the emergency department remains open for walk-in patients. Ambulances have been redirected to other facilities, officials said.
WGN-TV spoke with a patient who was just discharged from the hospital. He says the air conditioning was out his entire five-day stay.
“To be honest, it’s like an oven,” Steven Acosta said. “The only thing they have is a machine for air for the hallways but inside the rooms there’s no air, just wind blowing out of the vent.”
A spokesperson says once repairs are complete, the hospital will need to be cooled to a comfortable temperature before resuming operations.
“We are all working to resolve this matter,” the hospital’s statement said. “Inconvenience to everyone is deeply regretted.”
