Report into LaSalle home deaths raises criminal probe questions
SARAH MANSUR
Capitol News Illinois
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 facility and the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs that contributed to 36 resident deaths there since November.
The report from the state Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General found the facility failed to prepare for an outbreak, lacked infection prevention plans or policies, and had major issues with communication, staff training and education. It also found that senior officials at the IDVA and LaSalle facility were not taking control or actively managing the outbreak as it became a cris
Originally published on May 3, 2021 3:56 pm
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 facility and the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs that contributed to 36 resident deaths there since November.
The report from the state Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General found the facility failed to prepare for an outbreak, lacked infection prevention plans or policies, and had major issues with communication, staff training and education. It also found that senior officials at the IDVA and LaSalle facility were not taking control or actively managing the outbreak as it became a crisis.
An inspector general report detailing the leadership shortcomings that led to COVID-19 claiming 36 lives at the LaSalle Veterans Home last year was released last week, and lawmakers are disappointed with Pritzker and his administration.
6 hours ago in Local Photo: Saga Communications
Most of the actors have changed recently, but it looks like the same movie to Illinois Republicans.
After a brief meeting with the governor and the four legislative leaders, the first in person in 2021, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) is already down on the process with more than a month to go in the session.
“I have been here a few times,” Durkin (pictured, standing) told reporters, “and what i do know is that when you are excluded from the table – or not invited to the table – there is a certain level of pessimism that goes along with it. So, despite the gleeful rhetoric that I am hearing from Democrats and the governor about ‘Republicans need to be at the table,’ you’ve got to be invited first. And we have not been invited to the table on any significant issue.”
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