Kane County Reporter

Illinois' auditor general recently released a new report related to the 2020 COVID outbreak at LaSalle Veterans' Home. The incident led to the death of 36 veterans. Sen. Don DeWitte (R-West Dundee) has pointed fingers at the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for a poor response to and handling of the outbreak.

"The Auditor General's report also indicated that the DHS Inspector General's report, ordered and limited in investigative scope by the Governor, was incorrect when it found that the outbreak wasn't being meaningfully tracked by IDVA, as IDPH and the Deputy Governor for Health & Human Services were provided daily detailed information, which was in fact being used in the IDPH Director's daily briefings at the time," DeWitte posted on his website. "This report justifies the skepticism that Republican lawmakers had when the Governor chose to use one of his appointees to conduct an investigation and why it was important to have the independent Auditor General review the state's response. I also believe that the General Assembly must hold legislative hearings to demand answers from the Pritzker Administration."

"The virus hit the home very quickly with a large number of residents and staff positive within a few days," the auditor general report stated. "As a result, it was unclear whether non-adherence to policy caused the virus to spread so quickly or whether the rapid spread was due to other factors." Although that audit placed little blame on the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the more recent report finds more fault with the agency.

The report points to delayed COVID testing as a potential contributor to the outbreak, according to WQAD. The report also states that health officials "did not offer any advice or assistance as to how to slow the spread at the facility, offer to provide additional rapid COVID-19 tests, and were unsure of the availability of the antibody treatments for long-term care settings prior to being requested by the IDVA (Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs) Chief of Staff." The report has called for establishing firmer testing procedures in all veteran facilities so that such an outbreak is not repeated.

IDPH officials neglected to visit LaSalle Veterans' Home for two weeks after the outbreak was first reported, according to The Pantagraph. And when they visited, they found out that there were no personal protective equipment and even basic necessities like hand sanitizers were not present. According to the auditor general's report, IDPH "did not identify and respond to the seriousness of the outbreak."