Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration – particularly the Illinois Department of Public Health – has come under increased questioning regarding the 36 COVID-19-related deaths at the LaSalle Veterans Home. | File Photo
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration – particularly the Illinois Department of Public Health – has come under increased questioning regarding the 36 COVID-19-related deaths at the LaSalle Veterans Home. | File Photo
As Republicans continue to raise questions regarding the 36 deaths at the LaSalle Veterans' Home last fall related to COVID-19, Peter Neumer, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), recently spoke to the state Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Neumer appeared before the committee to discuss the April 26 report his department created about the veterans' home outbreak. He said that while the report has been criticized as overly critical, he considered it “tough but fair.”
“How confident are you that you got to the root cause despite the number of critical members involved that refused to be interviewed for the investigation?” State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R- McHenry) asked Neumer.
Neumer said that, despite the lack of input from some key players at IDPH and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA), he felt they were able to identify the root causes, which included a failure to seek external resources promptly, consolidation of too many responsibilities for a single individual, lack of a COVID-19 task force committee, and a failure to communicate with effectively and train employees regarding coronavirus risks.
“To the best of your knowledge — or those that conducted the investigation — was that determination to not cooperate individual determinations, or did you get any indication that they declined to be interviewed was based on [the] advice of legal counsel?” Wilcox asked Neumer.
Neumer declined to speculate on why those who declined to be interviewed for the report did so.
According to coverage by the Illinois Valley Times, Linda Chapa LaVia, former IDVA director, was forced to step down as agency director. Republican lawmakers have said that blame for the incident should not be reserved for those who stepped down, but the level to which all members of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration were aware that there was a problem needs to be assessed.
“I think [at] some point in we did think that we would get cooperation, but It ultimately didn't work out that way,” Neumer told Wilcox.
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