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Rush University Medical Center has set up a triage tent. Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center could convert parts of their facilities. Cook County’s flagship Stroger Hospital has been preparing since January. Chicago hospitals, like those in much of the country, are prepping for the worst as the coronavirus outbreak grows. Some doctors fear hospitals could become so overwhelmed they could be forced to ration medical care, as has happened in Italy.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Lombardy in Italy had a total of 720 ICU beds for a population of 10.4 million people. According the the JAMA article this week reporting on the Lombardy Covid plague, the expected occupancy of these beds in winter is 80-90% so there is little or no reserve. According to Gov Cuomo’s report on TV yesterday NYC has 3200 ICU beds for a comparable population. The tristate Chicago metropolitan area with a comparable population of around 10 million probably has closer the the NYC complement of ICU beds than the Milan complement.
I have unfortunately witnessed the socialized medicine of Italy first hand, as actually visited a relative in the hospital, it was some time ago…and Milan is considered one of the most modern of all Italian cities (Lombardy after the Lombards, a germanic tribe); I can’t even imagine what the hospitals in the southern 1/3rd of Italy look like.
Until recently my son was stationed in Aviano Italy usaf base in lockdown service members can only go to work. The situation in Italy is dire.