Inspector General releases LaSalle COVID report
Former Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Linda Chapa LaVia “abdicated” her authority in managing the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home. That’s what witnesses told investigators with the Illinois Department of Human Services Inspector General.
The inspector’s 50-page report released Friday also outlined a lack of COVID policies that led to confusion and chaos. Thirty-six residents lost their lives in the outbreak. One family is suing for millions of dollars.
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Terry Prince, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s designee as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, discusses changes in administration, communication, policies and infection control that he and others at the agency are implementing in response to a COVID-19 outbreak last fall at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. (AP Photo/John O’Connor)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Consistent statewide procedures and ongoing drills that target infection response and other emergencies will be routine at Illinois veterans’ homes after COVID-19 caught the LaSalle Veterans’ Home unprepared and claimed 36 lives last fall, the state’s newly appointed director said.
Terry Prince, a 31-year Navy veteran and former senior adviser to the U.S. Surgeon General, has issued a six-point plan for improving readiness at the state’s veterans’ homes in Anna, Manteno, Quincy and LaSalle. The plan follows a blistering investigative report that laid out a string of miscommunications, lax policy and missed
= What he needed to do in the wake of Quincy was hire someone with strong experience in health care management=
Amen. It is just confounding that he hired someone who had zero experience or related experience for such an important job that requires real knowledge and experience.
I believe in Pritzker, but this mistake hurt people and worse.
She was a real estate agent. I just cannot get that out of my head.
===You have to remember that she led the investigation that happened with the incident that happened at the Quincy Veterans’ Home a few years ago. And so she seemed like an ideal person to be able to root out the problems in our veterans’ homes. But I have to admit that if I knew then what I know now I would not have hired her.===
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs released an independent report that was requested by the Governor’s Office last fall to fully investigate a COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans home and detailed its progress on corrective actions that the agency began taking last fall.
The report was conducted by the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, and it outlines their findings regarding the regulations and protocols at the home, among other data points.
Starting last fall and now under the leadership of recently appointed Acting Director Terry Prince, IDVA is implementing corrective actions and has already taken steps to meet many of the recommendations prior to receiving the report on Monday. This includes forming new Infection Control Committees at each of the veterans’ homes led by an Infection Control Director, restructuring senior leadership, and streamlining and strengthen
Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com
Apr 30, 2021 | 1:34 PM
(The Center Square) â A report from a Pritkzer administration inspector general on how the Illinois Department of Veteransâ Affairs handled last fallâs COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veteransâ Home killing 36 people doesnât tell the whole story, a Republican state senator says.
The report from the Illinois Department of Human Services Office of the Inspector General released Friday highlights some of whatâs been known: There were lax COVID-19 protocols and other failings.
âOnce the home had the resources and leadership it needed â first from IDPH, and later from IEMA, the National Guard, and Acting Administrator Anthony Vaughn and Acting Director of Nursing Danielle Vanko â the outbreak was controlled,â the report said.