3 more children from Pilsen migrant shelter hospitalized after 5-year-old boy dies

CHICAGO - Three more children were hospitalized Monday after becoming ill at a migrant shelter in Pilsen where a 5-year-old boy who died a day earlier had been staying.

A 1-year-old, a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old — all girls — were transported to hospitals at different times Monday morning with fever and vomiting, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

The youngest was taken to UIC Hospital about 4 a.m. The 4-year-old was taken about the same time to Insight Hospital, and the oldest was transported to Insight Hospital about 11 a.m., officials said. Their conditions weren’t immediately known.

Langford said the fire department received "some other calls" Monday reporting illness at the shelter at Cermak Road and Halsted Street, where migrants have complained about overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.

The three hospitalizations come a day after Jean Carlos Martinez fell ill and was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he died. Autopsy results were inconclusive and pending further review, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The shelter is a converted warehouse that opened in early October and has since become the most crowded shelter in the city, holding more than 2,000 people.

It is run by Favorite Healthcare Staffing, a Kansas-based contractor the city has awarded close to $100 million to run shelters since September 2022, shortly after the first buses carrying migrants began arriving.

Langford said the fire department sent a district chief to the shelter Monday "to see what’s happening," and is awaiting his report.