Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) responded to a report about COVID-19 deaths at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. | Photo Courtesy of Sue Rezin Facebook
Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) responded to a report about COVID-19 deaths at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. | Photo Courtesy of Sue Rezin Facebook
A watchdog report stated that numerous problems in leadership caused a COVID-19 outbreak that led to 36 deaths at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
The death toll was a quarter of the population of the home. The report was carried out by the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General.
The veterans' home did not have advance plans in place to deal with the coronavirus, despite the heavy risk of transmission at long-term care facilities.
"The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs had an entire year before the COVID outbreak to implement the recommendations from the Quincy audit," Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said in a May 1 Facebook post. "Had they done that, we would have averted a huge loss of life."
The investigation of the home began in November when the 27th death was recorded. The Inspector General's report discovered problems in staff communication and training in addition to a pervasive lack of regard for personal protective equipment regulations. The report was derived from 29 interviews with individuals and hundreds of documents.
The report singled out numerous leaders as having failed at their jobs, including the former LaSalle Home Administrator Angela Melbrech, the former IDVA Director Linda Chapa LaVia and her Chief of Staff Tony Kolbeck.
Alerts Sign-up