North Cook News

After the Auditor General's office released a report on the management of the LaSalle Veterans Home where 36 veterans died from COVID, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) took to Facebook to demand changes at the Illinois Department of Health.

"It is completely unacceptable for our state health agency to have ignored such an alarming outbreak affecting veterans entrusted to the state's care. Those responsible should in no way be able to remain at IDPH," Mazzochi posted.

"Auditors reviewed emails and documentation and conducted meetings and determined that although 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," Auditor General Frank Mautino wrote in the report.

 The report also detailed  a lag in communication between the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and the governor's office. "From the documents reviewed, management at IDPH did not offer any advice or assistance as to how to slow the spread at the Home, offer to provide additional rapid COVID-19 tests, and were unsure of the availability of the antibody treatments for long-term care settings prior to being requested by the IDVA Chief of Staff, even though the State had been allocated 6,380 vials of monoclonal antibodies, which could have been used to treat positive residents," the report stated.