CHICAGO — A former Haymarket Center employee said she quit because of the initial response by the substance abuse treatment center regarding COVID-19.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is up to 45 and three suspected deaths. One of those fatalities, according to family, happened Tuesday.

Ronald Whitfield, 67, called Haymarket Center his professional home. His family said he worked as a counselor there for the last decade.

His family was only able to see him over FaceTime during his final days as he struggled with COVID-19 in the hospital.

Whitfield is now the third Haymarket Center employee believed to have died from the virus.

On Tuesday, Haymarket confirmed that 45 people associated with the center are now confirmed COVID-19 positive. That includes 14 employees and 31 client patients

Haymarket Center is one of the largest non-profit substance abuse treatment facilities in the Midwest. Its in-patient unit currently houses about 200 people.

Haymarket said it began to restrict access to the facility in March. closing outpatient services on March 24.

The first COVID-19 case was confirmed April 2.

By April 4, a staff email said 29 patients and three employees tested positive. The latest numbers provided by Haymarket now stand at 14 employees, and 31 patients.

One Haymarket employee quit at the end of March when her job as a grant writer, she says, was not essential for patient care, suddenly was, according to a staff memo.

“I felt uncomfortable because they have me there and they have me exposed when I don`t have to be exposed and that’s not right,” the employee said. “That shows me, it felt like I was a number. I didn`t mean anything. You can respect my discomfort. Like I said, it was kind of dismissed when I started talking about working from home.”

She asked that her face be blurred, as she is currently back on the job hunt. Though several other current employees and one patient have contacted WGN News in the last day, concerned about the outbreak and its impact on their health and the health of vulnerable patients.

“I understand that Haymarket has to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the employee said. “I understand that mission, and respect that. I just don`t see why would you risk half the staff for the other half of the staff when you could get half the staff out of here and direct all your protection to those who actually provide essential services?”

Haymarket said it’s working with Rush University Medical Center to get as many people tested as possible, using those tests on a case by case basis if they’re symptomatic.

The medical director said he’s also lost a friend and colleagues to COVID-19 recently, and his thoughts are with the families of the Haymarket employees who’ve been lost.