Hoffman Introduces Legislation in Response to Deaths at Illinois Veterans’ Home

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Following the deaths of 13 veterans at a state-run veterans’ home in Quincy, state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, introduced legislation Wednesday urging Gov. Rauner’s administration to provide a comprehensive report to the General Assembly examining the facility’s handling of multiple Legionnaire’s disease outbreaks over a two-year period.

“Tragically, the Rauner administration’s mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans’ Home has compromised the care that residents receive,” said Hoffman. “Veterans who served our country, with honor and distinction, deserve the highest level of care and support.”

According to an investigative report by WBEZ, 13 residents of the Quincy Veterans’ Home have died from Legionnaire’s disease, and more than 60 residents and staff have contracted the illness since Aug. 2015. Legionnaire’s disease is spread through the air from a water source. Yet despite receiving more than $6 million in taxpayer funds and resources to renovate the Quincy home’s plumbing systems in 2015, the location continues to face outbreaks.

Hoffman’s House Resolution 726 calls on the Rauner administration to report to the General Assembly within two weeks on the Quincy Veterans’ Home’s handling of the Legionnaire’s disease outbreaks, including detailed timelines of what the Departments of Public Health and Veterans’ Affairs knew and when they knew it, the treatment that residents received and whether the facility should have publicized the outbreaks earlier to afford families the best chance to help their loved ones. The report must also include a detailed proposal on how to contain the spread of and end the outbreaks of Legionnaire’s disease at this facility in the future.

“It’s highly concerning if this facility knew about the presence of toxic bacteria and failed to notify families and test residents in a timely manner,” said Hoffman. “Governor Rauner owes it to our military families to be fully transparent about the severity of the problem and the steps that his administration is taking to resolve it.”