St. Rep. Lance Yednock says there’s clearly a management structure problem in the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. At an online hearing for the Illinois House Veterans Affairs Committee yesterday, the Ottawa Democrat asked Deputy Governor Sol Flores for solutions. The committee continues looking into the coronavirus outbreak that ended 36 veterans’ lives at the veterans home in LaSalle.
Flores says the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs said it was on top of things. But the coronavirus outbreak at the veterans home showed otherwise. That’s why Illinois House Veterans Affairs Committee member Deanne Mazzochi didn’t like Flores’ replies.
Answering a question from Morris Republican St. Rep. David Welter, Flores said the inspector general who looked into the outbreak didn’t exempt the governor’s office from scrutiny. She said the Department of Human Services Office of the Inspector General decided the investigation’s scope. Welter and other Republicans have questioned why the Gov. Pritzker’s administration doesn’t appear to have been scrutinized at all.
A recent Department of Human Services report found the former nursing home administrator and the former Department of Veterans Affairs director weren’t very involved. The Illinois Senate Veterans Affairs Committee meets this afternoon to also talk about the coronavirus outbreak.