Will County Gazette

The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs will have a new top executive after the previous director resigned earlier this year.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that Navy veteran Terry Prince will lead the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs as its acting director until confirmed by the state Senate.

"I've dedicated my life to serving those who've served us, and as a veteran myself, I know the value of compassionate and meaningful support centered around our nation's greatest heroes and their families," Prince said, KHQA reported in March. "I'm honored to return to the State of Illinois, where my wife and I have previously served in uniform, with the chance to bring my experience in veterans' affairs and health care to the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs."

Prince has more than three decades in the Navy and has years of experience working with veterans living in homes in Ohio.

"Having served as the superintendent of Ohio's veterans' homes, director of the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps and force master chief of Navy Medicine, Terry Prince brings to Illinois exemplary experience in caring for our veterans and their families, and I'm deeply proud to welcome him to Illinois as Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs," Pritzker said, KHQA reported.

The previous director, Linda Chapa LaVia, resigned in January amid fallout over how she handled the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home. More than 30 veterans contracted the virus and died, while more than 100 residents and approximately 100 staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.

Investigators found several issues at the facility leading up to the incident, including staffers not wearing masks, alcohol-free hand sanitizer ineffective at killing the virus, and a spreader event at an off-site Halloween party that staffers attended, ABC Chicago News reported.

"The inappropriate hand sanitizer; alcohol-free based hand sanitizer," Chicago attorney Mike Bonamarte cited from a state investigative report, according to ABC 7 News. "They observed inappropriate screening protocol at the staff entrance to the facility. They reported staff congregating, not social distancing; not always wearing masks or having their masks around their chins."

In his most recent position as superintendent of the Ohio Veterans Homes, Prince oversaw three veterans facilities, one of them the fifth-largest skilled nursing home in the U.S. and an independent living community.

Prince's military career spanned from 1986 to 2017. He served as force master chief and director of the United States Navy Hospital Corps.

He's also served as senior adviser to the Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy.