Retired Army Officer,State Representative Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) joined his House Republican colleagues in demanding the Illinois House Veterans’ Affairs Committee convene a hearing immediately to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. On November 10th, all Republican members of the Illinois House Veterans’ Affairs Committee signed onto a letter to demand a public hearing concerning the outbreak of COVID-19 at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. As of today, no legislative hearing in the House has been scheduled.
According to State Representative Dan Caulkins, “It has been 20 days since my House Republican colleagues requested a legislative hearing to determine what went wrong at LaSalle and what must be done to mitigate and control the spread of COVID-19 in the veterans’ home. There should be no delay, our veterans didn’t delay their service to our country. Therefore, the state must not further delay solving this crisis. This failure to act dishonors the service that these men and women gave to our country. We must protect the lives of our veterans residing at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home as they sacrificed their lives to protect our life and freedom.”
Since the coronavirus outbreak became public by the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) on November 9th, nearly 200 residents and staff have been infected with COVID-19 at the Veterans’ Home located in LaSalle.
Rep. Caulkins added, “Over half of the COVID-19 related deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities like the LaSalle Veterans’ home. Data and science show that acting quickly would save lives, Governor Pritzker failed to have his people even visit the facility until 11 days after the outbreak. The data clearly shows that his administration’s inactions, unfortunately, resulted in the death of 28 veterans at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. The House can’t delay any longer, it’s time to hold a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing immediately.”