Underfunded Chicago hospital leading the COVID-19 fight

Americas Now

Overwhelmed medical staff saving lives in poorest areas in Chicago

The fight against COVID-19 in the most overwhelmed areas of the United States, put a huge strain on the resources of hospitals in the country’s poorest areas.  

Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, was already tending to a community plagued with a myriad of poverty-related diseases, like asthma, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.   

The hospital was almost at full capacity before the arrival of COVID-19. The peak of the pandemic found Roseland Community Hospital overcrowded, underfunded and understaffed.  

From Hospital administration to practitioner nurses, COVID-19 was a scary thought that was far away from their daily lives, until it wasn’t anymore.   

Once confronted with the virus, Roseland’s scarce resources were dedicated to fight the pandemic. That gave members of the community in need of healthcare the opportunity to be treated, even though most of them lack insurance coverage.   

Correspondent Dan Williams got exclusive access to the hospital and healthcare workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight in one of Chicago’s poorest areas.