When Jasmine Leonard showed up for her shift at Rush University Medical Center at 7 a.m. on Monday, she was shocked by how hot it was inside the hospital. As part of Rush’s environmental services department, she’s responsible for keeping the place clean.
She wagers temperatures inside were at least 86 degrees.
“It’s hell, it is so hot,” she said. “It’s a hospital, it’s not like you can send everyone home for the day.”
Rush University Medical Center’s main tower lost air conditioning Monday morning, forcing the hospital to temporarily divert ambulances and cancel surgeries as the city dealt with its latest heat wave.
A chilled water line for the 14-story, butterfly-shaped building on the Near West Side was temporarily down, impacting AC systems, Rush spokesperson Tobin Klinger told the Sun-Times. The line had been repaired, he said, but the damage meant the building would take until the afternoon to cool down.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory earlier in the day. Though temperatures were expected to be in the upper 80s throughout much of the city, the heat index would make it feel like it was between 105 and 109 degrees, the weather service said. The heat index had hit 102 degrees by mid-afternoon.
By 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Klinger said temperatures were stabilizing in the tower. The ER was also accepting ambulances again except for any with patients experiencing a heart attack or stroke.
UI Health, less than a mile south of Rush, said the hospital’s emergency department had not been impacted by Rush diverting ambulances. Rush’s other neighbor, Stroger Hospital, had not responded to questions about impacts to its emergency room.
Fawn Keene stepped outside the hospital Monday morning for relief from the heat. The temperatures outdoors were in the high 80s and humid, but she said it’s better than inside her fiancé’s hospital room on the 14th floor.
“It is really hot in there,” Keene said. “And being in the penthouse, it has to be the hottest part of the hospital.”
She noticed the temperature start to rise inside around 6 a.m. Her fiancé, suffering from bladder cancer, has been at Rush for several weeks recovering from surgery for a new bladder.
Keene appreciates how attentive and caring hospital staff has been, but there’s only so much they can do, she said.
“This morning I gave him some ice cream,” Keene said.
Leonard, who has worked at Rush for 17 years, said this is the first time in her tenure that the AC stopped working. She hasn’t been able to mop the floors Monday because condensation from the humidity has made the floors slippery.
“At least as an employee I can move around or come outside, but I feel for the patients who can’t really move right now,” Leonard said. “We have fans going everywhere and nurses are giving them ice packs and water.”
Luckily, temperatures will drop as the week goes on. The high Wednesday will be 89 degrees, with a 40% chance for thunderstorms and a heat index as high as 95 degrees. Temperatures for the rest of the week are expected to drop into the 70s.