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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, staff at Loyola University Medical Center marked the first day without a COVID-19 patient since the first patient was admitted on March 11, 2020. “It is a testament to the incredible work that our colleagues have done over the last two years to provide excellent patient care,” said Richard Freeman, MD, MBA, FACS, regional chief clinical officer, Loyola Medicine, “but we know this won’t last forever.” Overall, Loyola Medicine, which consists of Loyola University Medical Center, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and MacNeal Hospital, has treated and released more than 9,600 patients, including Ted Roberts, the first patient treated at Loyola Medicine.
After returning from a business trip to Maine in early March 2020, Roberts was concerned he wasn’t feeling well and suggested his wife stay at their son’s house. “Subconsciously, I knew I was really sick,” he said. On March 11, 2020, the same day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, he was admitted to Loyola with a low blood oxygen level. Soon after, he was transferred to the ICU and placed on a ventilator.
“He was really about as sick as any patient could be,” said pulmonologist Kevin Simpson, MD, FACP, FCCP. “I wasn’t at all confident he was going to survive.” During his hospitalization, Roberts, a Type 1 diabetic with broader autoimmune disease, spent nearly two weeks in the intensive care unit and 10 days on a ventilator.
Now 69 and fully recovered, Roberts says his life is active and exciting. He works with his son at “Regal Games” and enjoys time with his eight grandchildren, including two born since he was hospitalized. “That’s worth sticking around for,” he said.
To honor the caregivers who supported them throughout Ted’s illness, he and his wife Ellen became generous donors to the Loyola Medicine Colleague Assistance Fund. “My family and I believe, based on conversations with other doctors and medical personnel, that if I were not at Loyola University Medical Center and under the care of Dr. Kevin Simpson, I most likely would not have survived those first critical days,” said Roberts. “I couldn’t be more grateful. It was a scary time for them and they put their worries away and took care of us.”
“Mr. Roberts was as sick as you can possibly be and came out fine,” said Dr. Simpson. “I tell everyone that we just don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve had many other patients who are not sick enough to even be hospitalized who now have such extensive lung damage that they will likely need a lung transplant at some point, and everything in between.”
For those still suffering, Loyola offers multidisciplinary care for patients with long-term neurological, cognitive and other symptoms associated with COVID-19. “The long-term symptoms of COVID-19 may be protracted,” said Dr. Freeman. “Loyola Medicine is committed to providing comprehensive, exemplary care to these patients.”
Video: From Coma to Recovery: Loyola Medicine’s First COVID-19 patient – YouTube
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About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago’s western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from more than 1,500 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties.