Questions persist around Pritzker's handling of veterans' home COVID outbreak

[June 02, 2022] By Andrew Hensel | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a measure he says will improve care for senior citizens in nursing homes across the state, but he continues to field questions about recent findings concerning the November 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home.

Pritzker has been under attack by Republican candidates for governor after a report from the Illinois Auditor General found serious faults in the response to the outbreak from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the governor’s office. The outbreak at the LaSalle home killed 36 veterans and sickened dozens of residents and staff.

Pritzker was asked if he will pursue legislative changes after the findings were released last month.

"It requires not legislation but different staffing and leadership and we have done that," Pritzker said Tuesday. "We not only did our own report but now there is also the auditor general report and we pointed out transparently what the challenges were at that home."

After the outbreak, Pritzker ordered an inspector general investigation, but that report only focused on the outbreak's handling by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. The Illinois House last year approved a resolution to have the Illinois Auditor General investigate the entire administration's handling of the outbreak.

The outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home began on Nov. 1, 2020, according to the audit's findings. Public health officials did not show up at the home for 11 days from when the outbreak started.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at a news conference in Springfield on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
Courtesy of BlueRoomStream

The audit also places direct blame on the Illinois Department of Public Health for their late arrival, saying that all but four of the 36 veterans who lost their lives tested positive before the officials arrived.

Pritzker was asked about what went wrong at the home.

"There were challenges at that home and there were some protocols that hadn't been followed, it appears, and the leadership needed to change and we did that," Pritzker said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin gave his thoughts on the findings and criticized the Pritzker administration for talking about the wrong issues.

“He wants to be talking about anything other than his failures and his record and how my success as the mayor of the city of Aurora trump his failures," Irvin said during a news conference last month. "We’re here talking today about 36 veterans, 36 heroes of the state of Illinois that died because of his gross negligence.”

Andrew Hensel has years of experience as a reporter and pre-game host for the Joliet Slammers, and as a producer for the Windy City Bulls. A graduate of Iowa Wesleyan University and Illinois Media School, Andrew lives in the south suburbs of Chicago.