CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois House Veterans’ Affairs Committee had its first chance to ask questions about the COVID-19 breakout at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home Wednesday. Lawmakers demand accountability from the Pritzker administration, as they feel residents and families deserve answers about how this tragedy happened.
Officials from the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs say they have the outbreak contained with strong compliance measures in place. As of Wednesday, 108 veterans in the facility tested positive, with 56 of those residents having recovered. Experts on-site report 19 active cases, but 33 veterans have died following complications with COVID-19.
Meanwhile, 103 staff members tested positive since the start of the outbreak. Dr. Avery Hart, the Illinois Department of Public Health consultant working at the facility, says only two of those cases are still active. No employees have died.
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The director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and her chief of staff faced members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday as state officials question how the coronavirus outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home started and what was done to prevent the spread of the virus that’s killed 33 veterans.
Linda Chapa LaVia, an Army veteran and director of the state’s VA department, and Tony Kolbeck, her chief of staff, appeared along with Dr. Avery Hart, who represented the state Department of Public Health, to answer questions about the spread of the virus at the LaSalle Veterans Home.
LaSalle Veterans’ Home | Courtesy: State of Illinois
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) Some state lawmakers said they were left with more questions than answers after a nearly four-hour hearing focused on a COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veteran’s home that killed at least 33 residents.
Officials from the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs were on hand to answer questions Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health said department officials sent consultant Dr. Avery Hart, but he couldn’t answer all the questions posed by committee members.
“I wasn’t in the mix at that point so I don’t think I would comment,” Hart said. “I know there’s an independent investigation by the inspector general to clarify the timeline.”
VA Employees Worked in COVID-19 Units After Contracting Virus Themselves, Facility Says
On 12/17/20 at 5:02 PM EST
An official at the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that some employees at a facility in LaSalle continued working in COVID-19 units after testing positive for the virus themselves.
A spokesperson for the state s Department of Veterans Affairs said the few employees who did choose to continue working were already assigned to COVID-19 areas at the facility at the time they received their positive test results. Those employees were also isolated from all other facility staff members and residents, according to Bridget Dooley, the department s public information officer.
LaSalle Veterans’ Home | Courtesy: State of Illinois
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) Some state lawmakers said they were left with more questions than answers after a nearly four-hour hearing focused on a COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veteran’s home that killed at least 33 residents.
Officials from the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs were on hand to answer questions Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health said department officials sent consultant Dr. Avery Hart, but he couldn’t answer all the questions posed by committee members.
“I wasn’t in the mix at that point so I don’t think I would comment,” Hart said. “I know there’s an independent investigation by the inspector general to clarify the timeline.”