Message to Staff: Update on Potential Strikes

September 10, 2020

Dear UI Health—

I want to provide an update as we plan for a staff shortage beginning this weekend and into next week.

Based on our projected census and estimates of available staff, we anticipate the need to limit our inpatient census. Effective 3 pm yesterday, September 10, we declared an internal emergency and activated our full Hospital Incident Command. We have placed the Emergency Department on ambulance bypass and are closed for outside transfers from other hospitals. We also put into place measures to transfer patients out of our Emergency Department that require hospitalization. These actions were reviewed and approved by our designated resource hospital coordinator and shared with IDPH.

We regret the disruption of service to our patients and the at-risk communities that rely on us for their healthcare. We will continue to do all that we can to provide as much access to our services as possible while we ensure the utmost in safety.

Sincerely,

David Loffing, MS
Chief Operating Officer
University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics