{"id":1045139,"date":"2026-09-05T15:19:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T15:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1045139\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T15:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T15:19:28","slug":"northern-illinois-hospitals-struggle-with-patient-boarding-long-emergency-room-waits-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1045139\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Illinois hospitals struggle with patient boarding, long emergency room waits \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sept. 2, Joliet City Council <\/a>member Suzanna Ibarra said she\u2019s \u201cwitnessed firsthand\u201d the strain on local resources caused by the disappearance of \u201cessential hospital services\u201d in Joliet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my father suffered a serious heart-related medical emergency, he waited more than 12 hours to receive the care he needed at another regional hospital due to the strain,\u201d Ibarra said in a written statement. \u201cThis was horrific for our family. No family should have to endure that kind of delay during a medical emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ibarra said in the statement that loss of essential hospital services leaves neighboring hospitals, emergency departments, ambulance services, firefighters, police<\/a> officers and other first responders to absorb the increased demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emergency room crowding isn\u2019t simply about too many people showing up. Hospitals say a major contributor is patients who need admission but can\u2019t get an inpatient bed \u2013 leaving them stuck in the ER.<\/p>\n

\"Suzanna<\/p>\n

Suzanna Ibarra, District 5 councilwoman, speaks at the proposed cata center at the City of Joliet City Council meeting on Monday, March 16, 2026 in Joliet. (Gary Middendorf)<\/p>\n

\u201cAs more services are eliminated from hospitals in our community<\/a>, the burden on healthcare<\/a> facilities will continue to grow, resulting in even longer wait times, overcrowded emergency departments and increased pressure on the very doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals who are working tirelessly to care for their patients,\u201d Ibarra said in the statement.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Ibarra\u2019s experience isn\u2019t isolated; it\u2019s widespread across the country \u2013 and boarding is a huge contributing factor.<\/p>\n

What is \u2018boarding?\u2019 \u2013 and how does that affect ER waits?<\/p>\n

When patients must be admitted and no inpatient hospital beds are available, patients \u201cboard\u201d in the emergency department until one frees up, which can cause emergency rooms to back up, according to Jill Pateros, director of emergency services at Silver Cross Hospital <\/a>in New Lenox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 2025 study published in the journal Health<\/a> Affairs found that boarding is becoming increasingly common.<\/p>\n

For that study, researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School<\/a> and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston examined national data from electronic health records of 46.2 million hospitalizations in 1,500 hospitals in all 50 states from January 2017 to September 2024.<\/p>\n

For instance, in January 2022, 40.1% of patients boarded for more than four hours, and 6.3% boarded for more than 24 hours, according to the study.<\/p>\n

Dr. Daewon Kim, emergency department medical director at Saint Joseph Medical Center<\/a> in Joliet<\/a>, said insurance snags can interfere with timely placement and lead to boarding.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Daewon Kim, Medical Director for the Emergency Department at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center speaks at the “Salute to Nurses” event after being named Physician of the Year.
\nWednesday, May 7, 2025. (Photo Provided by Sa)<\/p>\n

\u201cSome patients need to go to a nursing home,\u201d Kim said. \u201cBut they need prior authorization. That process takes time. But guess what? Insurance companies are not open on holidays; they\u2019re not open on weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boarding isn\u2019t even good for the boarders, even though they\u2019re in the hospital.<\/p>\n

A 2022 study found patients may be more likely to die in 30 days if they waited longer than five hours in the emergency department before being admitted.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality held a summit in 2024 to address this national public health crisis.<\/p>\n

Obviously, every patient who comes to the emergency department isn\u2019t admitted, Kim said. But neither can one plan for an exact number in advance. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome days we see a lot more sick patients,\u201d Kim said. \u201cAnd we end up admitting a lot more sick people than we typically do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharon Zobel, chief nursing officer at Silver Cross, said the hospital\u2019s inpatient teams may \u201cshuffle people around\u201d so providers can see boarded patients at bedside and start their inpatient care.<\/p>\n

\"Sharon<\/p>\n

Sharon Zobel was recently named vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. (Photo provided by Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [patients] receive all of the same services they\u2019d receive in a patient room,\u201d Sharon said. \u201cAnd as soon as we are able to free up a room, we move those patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why the long wait?<\/p>\n

Kelly Monestero, a registered nurse and director of operations for the emergency departments at both Northwestern Medicine<\/a> McHenry and Woodstock hospitals, said patients often come to the emergency department because they can\u2019t access primary care or specialty care providers.<\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly Monestero is a registered nurse and director of operations for the emergency departments at both Northwestern Medicine McHenry and Woodstock hospitals. (Photo provided by Northwestern Medicine)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is that patients are getting sick and try to get into their primary care provider and there\u2019s an extended wait time to get in there,\u201d Monestero said. \u201cThen they either become increasingly more sick and need to come to the emergency room or their physicians refer them to the emergency room so they\u2019re seen sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jill Pateros, director of emergency services at Silver Cross, said people used to avoid the emergency department unless the situation was \u201clife or death.\u201d <\/p>\n

But chest pain symptoms are not as \u201ccut and dried\u201d anymore and doctors often advise patients to seek emergency care, Pateros said.<\/p>\n

\"Jill<\/p>\n

Jill Pateros is the director of emergency services at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. (Photo provided by Silver Cross Hospital)<\/p>\n

Other factors that drive emergency room visits include an aging population with complex health needs, underfunded mental health care and changes in health insurance plans, Pateros said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf their provider is no longer in network, they just might be looking for help somehow,\u201d Pateros said. \u201cWe tend to be the place where people go.\u201d<\/p>\n

How local EDs are addressing long waits<\/p>\n

Triage is absolutely key.<\/p>\n

Debra Robbins, director of marketing and communications at Silver Cross, said the hospital\u2019s website has a symptom checker, so people can decide to seek care at urgent care or the emergency department.<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Endris, a pediatrician with OSF Medical Group in Bloomington, previously said OSF has a 24-hour nurse triage service.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Endris is a pediatrician with OSF Medical Group in Bloomington. (Photo provided by OSF Healthcare)<\/p>\n

These nurses can \u201crun through the child\u2019s history\u201d with the parents and ask targeted questions to determine whether the child needs emergency care, be seen in the morning or should be seen within three days, Endris said.<\/p>\n

At Silver Cross, patients are registered and triaged shortly after arrival and get any tests they need before seeing a provider \u201cso they\u2019re not just sitting there with no eyes on them,\u201d Pateros said.<\/p>\n

Pateros said improved triage decreased Silver Cross\u2019 level of patients leaving before seeing a licensed provider by 57%.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, OSF HealthCare<\/a> said it uses \u201cnationally recognized triage protocols to ensure patients with the most time-sensitive and life-threatening conditions receive immediate care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout periods of high patient volume, our clinical teams continue to monitor patients in the waiting area through regular assessments to ensure their condition remains stable and to identify any changes requiring immediate intervention,\u201d according to OSF HealthCare.<\/p>\n

Jenni Radtke, director of nursing, emergency department and women\u2019s and children\u2019s services at Saint Joseph Medical Center, said data from the last two years showed the emergency department is typically busiest between 3 and 11 p.m., so staffing was adjusted to meet the higher need.<\/p>\n

\"Jenni<\/p>\n

Jenni Radtke is the director of nursing, emergency department and women\u2019s and children\u2019s services at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. (Photo provided by Prime Healthcare)<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot more injuries and accidents happen in the afternoon and early evening hours,\u201d Radtke said.<\/p>\n

Kim said these strategies have reduced the number of patients who leave the Joliet hospital without being seen from as high as 6% to as low as less than 1%, with Radtke adding that the hospital also has reduced its boarding by 65%.<\/p>\n

Monestero said patients are often seen faster at Northwestern Medicine Woodstock <\/a>than at the Huntley<\/a> or McHenry<\/a> emergency departments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have patient beds there, which I think deters people away,\u201d Monestero said. \u201cBut they can do the same things the McHenry and Huntley ERs can do with less of a wait. If a patient needs to be admitted from Woodstock, we provide transportation to McHenry or Huntley at no cost to the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

When patients leave without being seen<\/p>\n

A study published in May said patients leaving without being seen \u201crepresent failures of strained healthcare systems to meet acute care demand\u201d and may contribute to poor health outcomes in those patients.<\/p>\n

Monestero said when patients get bloodwork and imaging and then leave before a licensed provider sees them, they will try reaching the patient or the patient\u2019s primary care provider.<\/p>\n

Finally, patients are sometimes frustrated when the emergency department can\u2019t address every health concern, Pateros said. But emergency departments are not designed for that care.<\/p>\n

\"Silver<\/p>\n

Silver Cross Hospital offers this symptom checker to help patients decide if they should go to urgent care of the emergency department. (Photo provided by Silver Cross Hospital)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is to identify the life threat and get you through that,\u201d Pateros said. \u201cIf you\u2019re coming in with a heart attack, we are going to save you from dying of a heart attack. The rash you\u2019ve had for three years \u2013 we may not talk about\u2026we stabilize you and get you home or into a room somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sept. 2, Joliet City Council member Suzanna Ibarra said she\u2019s \u201cwitnessed firsthand\u201d the strain on local resources…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1045140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[718,210,1141,1142,112514,126706,1818,6390,418349,186957,24563,300362,37362,132109,7207,277327,418350,67,132,68,17075,186616],"class_list":["post-1045139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-community","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-homer-glen","tag-huntley","tag-illinois","tag-joliet","tag-joliet-city-council","tag-mchenry","tag-mchenry-county","tag-new-lenox","tag-northwestern-medicine","tag-osf-healthcare","tag-police","tag-saint-joseph-medical-center","tag-silver-cross-hospital","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-will-county","tag-woodstock"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117219112395945540","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1045139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1045140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1045139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1045139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1045139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}