Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

The Rauner Administration has been put on blast for their negligence in reporting in a timely fashion the state veterans home in Quincey, IL had been infected with Legionnaires Disease.  Looks like WBEZ has exposed some key facts about the issue  showing there was a 6-day gap between when the administration knew about the outbreak and when action was taken.

Lawsuits have been filed as a result of the neglect. This type of behavior is clear inexcusable by an administration. Illinois residents cannot keep being thrown aside like an old newspaper especially those who have fought and risked their lives for not only the state but the country.

Read more as reported by the Illinois Chronicle:

In a bombshell follow-up report from WBEZ found that the Rauner Administration waited six days to disclose what they knew was the beginning of a major Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the state veterans’ home in Quincy.

A public health expert, Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Center for Health Security in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the delay was “inexcusable” and “mind-boggling.”

“That’s six days that you’ve allowed that disease to spread in a manner that probably wouldn’t have happened if you would have known earlier because people would have been taking action,” Adalja said.

“If you know there is an epidemic, you need to tell people immediately.”

Eleven families are suing for negligence after thirteen residents of the Illinois Veterans Home died from Legionnaires’ disease since July 2015, according to a bombshell report from WBEZ.

WBEZ reports, “The tragic and continuing ordeal at the 210-acre facility in Quincy has heightened scrutiny over how well Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has managed a deadly public health crisis that started after he took office.”
In three years, the disease has killed 13 people and sickened at least 61 residents and staff at the

Quincy veterans’ home, according to WBEZ. The station’s report also alleges the state failed to stop the outbreaks of the deadly disease despite investing millions of taxpayer dollars.

Victims’ families contend that their loved ones were not diagnosed or treated quickly enough to beat back the disease, which is typically curable through a course of antibiotics.

Rauner visited the veterans’ home in 2016 told reporters the state was closely monitoring the home’s water for the bacteria. “We’re really on top of the situation,” he said during the visit. But after his visit, more cases emerged at the home, including the deaths of three more veterans.

In an interview this week, Rauner refused to say if he has a moral responsibility for the veterans’ illnesses and deaths.

Source: Illinois Chronicle