Quincy Reporter

Republican lawmakers raised serious concerns at Wednesday's House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing regarding the Quincy Veterans' Home. 

Sen. Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) said the only positive to the tragedy of the 13 deaths in two years due to the Legionnaires' outbreak at the facility is that legislators have gone out and seen the awesome work the staff does; however, he wanted to know how the home could have done better in dealing with the outbreak that took the lives of more than a dozen residents and staff members.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 Director of Public Policy Anne Irving said after communicating with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was contacted.

Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) fields questions from reporters at a Feb. 7 press conference concerning the Legionnaires outbreak at Quincy Veterans Home.

“Could we have done more if there had been more direct communication, I don’t know about more, but we could have done it faster,” Irving said.  

Schimpf said the bipartisan issue has been “frustrating” for lawmakers since they thought the situation was under control after the 2015 deaths, making the 2017 death unexpected.

“I wish I had more information come up to me, but that is on me too, I should have had more self-education back then,” Schimpf said.

Rep. Randy Frese (R-Paloma) discussed how the administration handled the 2015 outbreak, specifically questioning the duty of the infection control nurse on duty and how they assessed the outbreak and was told the nurse did all she could. 

Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) also addressed staffing issues, questioning mandatory overtime and how hard it can be on the staff. “Sen. Schimpf asked you earlier what could have been done better from your standpoint and the answer you give him was should have told us sooner,” Righter said.

“As this process goes forward I am sure you will be asked that question again, and the same question will be asked of the department and the people running the home, and all of us should be prepared to answer that question, including the people on this committee, with a substantive idea of what can we do better,” Righter added.

Righter said though the debate is about the people who passed away and are presently at Quincy, it is just as much about future veterans. “It’s also for the people who are going to come to the home next week, next month and next year,” Righter said.

After the hearing, Frese and Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) held a joint press conference with Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore, who said last year a bipartisan task force was formed to stop the politicization of the matter mostly seen in December 2017 over the 2015 outbreak.

“We need to put the veterans first, finger pointing is not going to get us very far,” Moore said. “We need to look at what solution have been done and we need to be open and transparent.”

Tracy said lawmakers look forward to continue sharing the outbreak story, regardless of past rumors.

“We look forward to moving on and bringing out everything the public might want to know about what happened and what we are doing now to prevent it, and we always recognize it is an unfortunate tragedy,” Tracy said.

The senator reminded the room of reporters that Quincy was not the only place the outbreak occurred.

“Legionella is something we are learning more about every day,” Tracy said. “We are working to make it as safe as possible in a world that is not always perfect.”

Frese followed saying legislators look forward to continue to shine the light on the subject that has remained in controversy for the last three years.