By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Chicago Public Health inspectors shut down the cafeteria and patient kitchen at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center after finding more than 200 live cockroaches and black slime inside.
The closure affects the kitchen that prepares food for hospital patients, not a staff-only facility, according to the inspection findings. Chicago Public Health ordered the temporary shutdown following the inspection.
The hospital, located in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, has not said when the kitchen will reopen or how food service to patients is being handled in the meantime.
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center has not issued a public statement on the inspection results. Chicago Public Health has not said when the facility passed its most recent prior inspection.
Hospital kitchens serving patients are subject to the same health code inspections as restaurants in Chicago, and repeat violations can result in fines or extended closures. Chicago Public Health has not said whether the hospital faces fines related to the findings.
The hospital is expected to undergo a follow-up inspection before the kitchen is allowed to reopen. Chicago Public Health has not announced a timeline for that reinspection.
