‘I…Thought I Was Saving His Life’: Families Of LaSalle Vets’ Home COVID Victims Prepare To Sue
SPRINGFIELD – Beth Ouimet thought she had lucked out in the summer of 2019 when her father got a placement in the state-run LaSalle Veterans’ Home after an episode of PTSD made it clear that living on his own wasn’t an option for the immediate future. And even after COVID-19 hit Illinois and locked down the […]
Top Pritzker Staffer Says Ill. VA Concealed Inner Workings Before COVID Killed 36 At Vets’ Home
SPRINGFIELD — In the months before the state-run veterans’ home in LaSalle saw a massive COVID-19 outbreak that eventually killed more than a quarter of the facility’s residents, leaders at the state agency that oversees the home obscured its inner workings from Gov. JB Pritzker’s office, a top Pritzker staffer told lawmakers on Thursday. Thirty-six […]
LaSalle Investigation Prompts Legislation Strengthening Inspectors General
SPRINGFIELD — Lawmakers representing the LaSalle Veterans’ Home, including Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, unveiled new legislation that would allow inspectors general of state agencies to subpoena former state employees. The legislation was prompted by an investigation into the COVID-19 outbreak last year at the LaSalle home that killed 36 veterans. The former director of the […]
Report Into LaSalle Home Deaths Raises Questions About Criminal Probe
SPRINGFIELD — Some Republicans in the General Assembly, including House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, are calling for a criminal investigation into the COVID-19 related deaths at the state-run LaSalle Veterans’ Home. The push for a criminal probe comes after a state investigative report was released Friday that found there were widespread failures at the LaSalle […]
Investigation Of Deadly COVID Outbreak Found State-Run Veterans Home ‘Inefficient, Reactive…Chao
SPRINGFIELD — “Lack of COVID-19 preparation,” paired with “failures in communication” both in and outside of the state-run LaSalle Veterans Home contributed to a major COVID-19 outbreak that killed 36 residents at the facility and infected dozens more, according to a report published by Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration Friday. The investigation revealed missed opportunities and […]
217 Today: April 30, 2021
Friday, April 30, 2021 Today’s Headlines: Gov. JB Pritzker has made public a long-awaited investigation into a COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home last fall that killed 36 residents. A new report from the Illinois Department of Public Health finds Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white […]
State Veterans Affairs Director Resigns In Aftermath Of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak
Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Linda Chapa LaVia announced her resignation Monday following a contentious House committee hearing on…
Lawmakers Seek Additional Hearings into LaSalle Veterans’ Home Outbreak
Republican lawmakers on Monday renewed calls for a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing into the cause of a coronavirus outbreak at the state-run…