Saving Mercy Hospital
Oct. 25, 2021
Kristen Schorsch
WBEZ Chicago
The pain in Dolores Wilson’s stomach was so bad in May that she got a ride to Mercy Hospital, less than a mile from where she lives in Chicago’s Dearborn Homes public housing in Bronzeville, and spent a few days there on a liquid diet.
Wilson, a sweet and spry 92-year-old, started writing down a song she wanted sung at her funeral.
“When they took me in, when I thought I was going to die, they saved my life,” Wilson said of the staff at Mercy. “It was close, and at the time when I really, really needed it … it was open.”
Wilson said weeks after her Mercy stay, the pain in her stomach returned. This time, she called 911.