Oakton’s Nursing Program Helping to Save Lives During Pandemic

(March 26, 2020) Oakton Community College’s Nursing Department is answering the state's call to assist in protecting health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of March 27, the department will have donated 7,000 gloves, 170 face masks with attached eye guards and 77 isolation gowns to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, NorthShore Glenbrook Hospital and Presbyterian Homes. All of the medical facilities are regular clinical sites for Oakton’s student nurses. Many of the professional nurses at the partnering facilities are Oakton graduates.

“As partners with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, NorthShore Glenbrook Hospital and Presbyterian Homes, we consider it our duty to help those front-line organizations during these difficult times,” said Margaret Gas, chair of Oakton’s Nursing Program.

A plea was made in a March 21 letter from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Ngozi Ezike, M.D., director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, welcoming any gifts of personal protective equipment (PPE).

For the latest Oakton messages regarding the coronavirus, visit www.oakton.edu/coronavirus.