May 16, 2018
Dear editor;
Recently, WBEZ radio reported that Illinois Veterans’ Home administrators downplayed the threat of the Quincy Legionnaires’ outbreak in 2015 by not properly informing staff members. Rather than the Illinois governor Bruce Rauner administration warning patients and workers about the confirmed Legionnaires’ cases, it sent an E-mail that dismissed the emerging crisis. The dedicated staff members working at the facility should not have learned about the outbreak from a friend’s Facebook post or the news, they should have learned about the crisis from Veterans’ Administration leadership.
After learning the accounts of staff members who simultaneously watched friends, colleagues, and patients fall seriously ill, I am shocked by the lack of concern shown in recently-released E-mail. I only can imagine how many people could have been spared this painful experience if the administration had not held back key information from patients and employees, even as it knew individuals were getting sick.
This failure led several colleagues and me to pass House Bill 4278 out of the House and Senate, which would require the Veterans’ Administration to alert patients and their families within 24 hours about an infectious disease outbreak. We need to urge the governor to sign this bill immediately to avoid a tragic repeat of 14 persons dying and more than 60 becoming ill at the Quincy Veterans’ Home.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Kifowit
State representative
84th District
Oswego/
Montgomery/
Naperville/Aurora