May 6, 2020
Dear All,
True to our mission, we continue to keep our doors open to all in need, despite challenges that go beyond anything I could have imagined. As we all continue to hope for the coronavirus crisis to be behind us, I want to give you a glimpse as to what staying the course at Haymarket Center really means for our patients, staff, and communities.
First and foremost, I am beyond proud of our staff who have demonstrated a steadfastness that deserves the admiration of all of us. Because of their “Haymarket strong” spirit, every single one of our many Haymarket Center programs are open and receiving patients.
To our communities, this means that:
- Our outreach teams continue to visit homeless encampments, maintaining relationships with some of Chicago’s most disadvantaged members.
- Our teams of recovery coaches are in the emergency room at Cook County Health covering two full shifts daily, to engage patients in need of treatment.
- All our programs continue to accept patients.
We provide care that no other organization provides in this environment. Last week, we accepted a pregnant woman and her young child into our residential program, coming to us from Decatur because no other program would help her with her substance use disorder and high-risk pregnancy.
Our systems are rock-solid and they have to be. With a pandemic that disproportionately affects African Americans, the chronically ill, and those living in congregate care settings, our patients are at extreme risk–and this is true for our employees as well.
Our health department partners understand this risk and have helped us to make testing available to patients and employees across our system every day. By testing as much as we do, we are able to identify many more positive cases than other institutions and immediately arrange for their quarantine and care.
As of this week, we have effectively brought 58 patients exposed to Covid-19 through a period of quarantine in our residential programs, keeping all of them healthy and in treatment.
We remain undaunted. Please reach out to me if you have questions about care for people struggling during this trying time. I sincerely appreciate your concern for our patients and your interest in our work.
Best in health,
Dr. Dan Lustig Psy.D. CAADC MISA II
President & CEO
Haymarket Center