JLL partners with Illinois and Chicago officials in the fight against the coronavirus
Rapid convention center conversion and operating continuity arms the city.
As hospitals and government entities began navigating the complexities of COVID-19, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois approached Meredith O’Connor, JLL’s Executive Managing Director, Brokerage.
Meredith learned Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot—working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—was converting Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center into an alternate care medical facility in anticipation of non-critical patient hospital overflow, and operational continuity was an immediate requirement.
Meredith and her colleagues Chris Roth, COO, Public Institutions, along with Scott Davis, Bret Olson, and JLL’s Healthcare team, brought a facilities management solution to life in a week before patients arrived. With JLL on-site, in one weekend the first 500 of 3,000 beds were unveiled by Mayor Lightfoot and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. JLL hired local minority/women-owned businesses to provide facility maintenance, security, cleaning, waste removal, and more.
“Our Facilities Management team is working day and night, seven days a week to prepare the city to fight the pandemic,” said Chris.
“We are honored and here to help the city arm itself in the fight against COVID-19,” said Kevin Wayer, JLL Division President, Public Institutions.
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