Sen. Sue Rezin | Facebook/State Senator Sue Rezin
Sen. Sue Rezin | Facebook/State Senator Sue Rezin
Sen. Sue Rezin raised concerns about how Gov. J.B. Pritzker managed the state at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that hit a veteran’s home hard.
“Since taking off as governor, he had every opportunity to improve veterans’ care at the state-run homes,” Rezin said at a news conference. “Starting with a 2019 Illinois auditor general’s recommendation to develop a timely on-site policy by the Department of Public Health when an outbreak occurs at a Veterans' Home.”
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported that 33,695 people died from the coronavirus.
“Although the (IDPH) officials were informed of the increasing positive cases almost on a daily basis, IDPH did not identify and respond to the seriousness of the outbreak,” the auditor wrote, CBS News reported. “All but four residents who died were positive prior to the date of the IDPH site visit.”
ABC 7 reported IDPH and the governor said they have already begun using what the auditor recommended.
“It's puzzling and it's frustrating why a governor is so disengaged in this process of fixing the tragic mistakes that led to 36 veterans dying at the LaSalle Veterans' Home,” Rezin said. “Gov. Pritzker is not defending our veterans and keeping them safe. It's time for the governor to set aside his pride and his lack of leadership and commitment to supporting my legislation solutions, which he’s ignored for the last year.”
The audit suggests that the facility was severely mismanaged during the peak of the pandemic, according to CBS News.
Several families of the veterans have submitted lawsuits against Illinois for these deaths, CBS News reported.
“It’s clear that no one oversaw the state’s response,” Rezin said. “I’ve offered a series of legislative bills changing how the state responds to outbreaks, including a time frame from which IDPH should arrive on-site when an outbreak occurs. I called on the governor multiple times over the past 14 months to get these responses and proposals called, yet his office has refused to respond.”
Rezin said veterans deserve more than "failed leadership and shifting blame to others."
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