* From Gov. Rauner’s Thursday press conference…
Asked whether there was criminal negligence in the Quincy response, Rauner said “absolutely not.” Asked about delay in notifying the public that WBEZ outlined, Rauner said “there’s not a delay.”
WBEZ on Tuesday aired a report outlining that state officials waited six days — even though they knew the epidemic was occurring — before notifying residents, families and the public. WBEZ also outlined how Rauner’s former deputy press secretary, who now works for President Donald Trump’s administration, sent an email directing no public notification of the outbreak on Aug. 25, 2015 — four days after people began getting sick.
“As soon as the Legionella infection occurred there, members of our team immediately took action to keep the veterans safe, to keep the staff safe and we brought in national experts and we have done everything that the national experts have recommended we do,” Rauner said.
Rauner said the outbreak was not contagious: “They do not pass from person to person. There’s no risk. It’s not that we have to notify the public, notify the community, notify the neighborhood, notify outsiders,” Rauner said. “This was an internal issue for plumbing inside the building, in particular residential halls. This is not something we had to rush to send out wide press releases and the team made the decisions when they knew all the facts and they could outlined exactly what was happening and what they were doing, what communication should be done.” [Emphasis added.]
“It’s not that we have to notify the residents and their families or anything.” There. Fixed it for ‘ya because that’s exactly what you avoided saying, governor.
People got sick and several died without ever knowing they were in any danger after higher-ups made a conscious decision to stay quiet. Residents’ families didn’t know, either, for the same reason. But the administration knew. They chose not to tell anyone. Not the residents, not their families, nobody. And, yes, the administration should have notified the community. It could’ve been a problem for Quincy, too. Nobody knew what was what at the time.
* Also, you took “immediate action” to keep the staff safe? Really? Remember this?…
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s own administration formally rebuked the state agency overseeing the Quincy veterans’ home for how it told staffers about the fatal Legionnaires’ disease outbreak after workers there got sick in 2015.
The workplace safety reprimand issued by the state Department of Labor, first obtained by WBEZ, focused on a pair of emails Illinois Veterans Home administrators blasted out to state workers that seemed to downplay the threat of the disease. The agency reproached the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which oversees the home, saying it “failed to effectively notify all employees” about the outbreak just as it was taking hold. […]
The email, sent by an infectious disease nursing supervisor to nearly 140 staff members, emphasized with all capital letters that there had been “an UNCONFIRMED diagnosis” of Legionnaires’. The correspondence admonished workers not to talk about the case with residents because “the last thing we need is for the residents to get worried and upset.”
Yeah. No need for anyone to worry that they might get sick and die or anything.
* Let’s return to our timeline, which I’ve truncated…
July 24: Earliest known case of Legionnaires’ disease at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy, according to a report issued later by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
August 21: Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Erica Jeffries later claims that on this date, her department “shut down the water, we removed aerators from all the showers, we shut down our fountains, we started issuing bottled water” because of the outbreak.
August 21: Illinois Veterans’ Home resident Melvin Tucker develops a fever. He is given Tylenol.
August 22: (E)mail, sent by an infectious disease nursing supervisor to nearly 140 staff members, emphasized with all capital letters that there had been “an UNCONFIRMED diagnosis” of Legionnaires’. The correspondence admonished workers not to talk about the case with residents because “the last thing we need is for the residents to get worried and upset.”
August 23: Illinois Department of Public Health notifies CDC of “five laboratory-confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease among residents and staff.”
August 24: Adams County Health Department Director of Clinical and Environmental Services Shay Drummond claims this is the date when “environmental control and mediation” actually starts
August 24: In an email, a state Veterans’ Affairs spokesman alerted the governor’s press staff about the Legionnaires’ test results, saying, “We have a situation at the Quincy home.” The spokesman went on to say he did not intend to publicize details of the test results that day unless “directed or in the case of wide media interest.”
August 25: Rauner does Springfield media event with Veterans’ Affairs Director Erica Jeffries at Springfield airport.
Aug. 25: Rauner’s press secretary at the time, Lindsay Walters, directed press aides in the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Illinois Department of Public Health not to issue a public statement about the growing Legionnaires’ threat at the home, documents show. “I do not think we need to issue a statement to the media. Let’s hold and see if we receive any reporter inquiries,” she said.
Aug. 26: There are now 28 Legionnaires’ disease onsets, the CDC reports later.
August 26: Three days after CDC was first notified of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, and 2-4 days after remediation efforts began, Gerald Kuhn, 90, is given Tylenol for a fever that reaches 104 degrees. Kuhn asks to go to the hospital and tests positive there for Legionella.
August 26: Last day Dolores French is seen alive. Her military veteran husband lives in another section of the complex.
August 27: “The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced eight confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease in residents at the Illinois Veterans’ Home - Quincy. There have been no known deaths related to this outbreak.”
August 27: After six days with a fever, Melvin Tucker is still not on any kind of antibiotic and hasn’t yet been tested for Legionnaires’, despite the CDC being notified four days earlier of an outbreak and the state announcing eight confirmed cases that same day.
August 28: “Two residents of an Illinois veterans home have died of Legionnaires’ disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday…. [both] had underlying medical conditions. Both were among 23 residents of the facility who had earlier been diagnosed with the disease.”
August 29: Dolores French is found dead and her body was decomposed. Her only underlying medical condition was deafness.
28 cases before anyone was told. But, yeah, they acted “immediately.” Right.
- So_Ill - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:29 am:
But but but what about JB’s toilets?? /s
- slow down - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:38 am:
The action (or inaction) of Rauner’s administration was utterly disgraceful.
His inability to take responsibility in any meaningful way is a reflection of a man incapable of self-reflection and a metaphor for his entire 4 years of my way or the highway failed leadership.
- Handle Bar Mustache - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:39 am:
Don’t think there was malice on Rauner’s part, or even his staff’s.
But the incompetence and obvious cover-up is unforgivable. Totally unforgivable.
For god’s sake, people died because of it.
- Flapdoodle - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:39 am:
[Very heavily banned two word phrase], Governor
- Anon - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:50 am:
===Don’t think there was malice on Rauner’s part, or even his staff’s.===
Generally public officials have a duty to the public and the people they directly serve. Deliberately instructing staff to not make the public aware, or the served population, aware of a life threatening condition and misleading staff (other public servants) about that risk is definitely a “wrongful intention” and indicative of being malicious.
Did the Rauner Administration set out to kill anyone? Of course not.
Did they intentionally — and wrongfully — attempt to cover up an outbreak of a deadly disease?
Looks like they did.
It’s not appropriate to say they acted without malice.
There are people that are dead because the public entity that was created to care and look after them in their old age treated their outbreak of a deadly illness with an over the counter fever reducer and made no effort to inform them of the deadly outbreak in their home.
- Last Bull Moose - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 9:56 am:
With Blago the corruption ran deep. With Rauner the incompetence runs deep.
- Anonimity - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:03 am:
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”–Joseph Goebbels.
- Moe Berg - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:14 am:
The claims of the Adams County State’s Attorney, Gary Farha, that taking this to a grand jury is just political, sure don’t look any better after this tick tock and analysis.
Like Rauner, Farha is badly failing his constituents. Like Rauner, I’m sure he’s the first to declare how much he appreciates veterans and their sacrifices for our country.
Words are wind. Actions, or lack thereof, reveal.
- James Knell - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:15 am:
“… her body was decomposed.”
Jeez… just in time for Halloween. Don’t they do wellness checks or something?
- Langhorne - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:27 am:
“These things happen.”
- Reese’s Pieces - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:34 am:
I also wonder about the shenanigans with the Adams County Coroner during this time. Seems these deaths should have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Coroner. Is that another reason the State’s Attorney is so wildly opposed to a Grand Jury?
- wordslinger - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:35 am:
–Don’t they do wellness checks or something?–
When the outbreak was finally reported, Delores French’s son called Quincy on Aug. 28 and asked staff to check on her and his father. He was told by staff that they were fine.
In fact, according to the Adams County coroner, Delores French was already dead.
She had been last seen on Aug. 26. Staff did not check until Aug. 29, the day after her son’s call. By then, she had been dead 36 to 48 hours, according to the coroner.
Just one of many examples at Quincy that Rauner believes was handled tip-top, and that the Adams County state’s attorney doesn’t think warrants an investigation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4sha2XtXeI
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:36 am:
I’m constantly in awe and impressed with how McKinney and Arnold have kept this issue in front of readers, and my admiration and respect for Rich Miller, who continues to remind us all, many times in real time, how this tragedy and it’s aftermath is being dismissed by this administration, purely for political purposes, including image and messaging, and ignoring the victims and how residents became victims.
The press, the media, those who cover the electeds… here is an example of why a free press is critical. I’m grateful.
This story, this tragedy, it’s important that truth sees the light.
- theCardinal - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:43 am:
Dismiss any and all with any contact with these poor folks. Medical personnel should have thier licenses revoked. Reload with new people that will take real care of our Veterans. While the Gov is not to blame for the day to day operations there are steps that should have been immediatly taken to ensure the safety and well being of the residents at the facility. This is just sad.
- Cheryl44 - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:46 am:
Not malice. Utter contempt.
- A Jack - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:49 am:
Let’s say Rauner is a supervisor at a manufacturing plant. A machine kills a worker and the supervisor is well aware of the problem. Supervisor Rauner is about to leave on a month’s vacation. No one asked him about the safety of the machine and he doesn’t want to delay his plans. So he instructs his staff not to worry about it since no one has asked. While he is gone, the unsafe machine kills many more workers. Would a reasonable person consider that criminal negligence?
- Huh? - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:57 am:
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”
A lie never comes the truth.
- Mama - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 10:59 am:
=”The press, the media, those who cover the electeds… here is an example of why a free press is critical. I’m grateful.”=
Freedom of the press and investigative reporting do save a life or multiple lives.
The problem is Rauner and Trump simply don’t care if it doesn’t affect them or their family and friends!
- Mama - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 11:02 am:
Rich, the families thank you for staying on top of this terrible crisis in the Veteran’s Home in Quincy.
- Mama - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 11:14 am:
“While the Gov is not to blame for the day to day operations there are steps that should have been immediately taken to ensure the safety and well being of the residents at the facility.”
Hello… the resident veterans where not the only people affected! The nurses & other staff who worked there were directly affected. Plus the visiting family members were affected by the water too.
- Reserved - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 11:23 am:
If a press release wasn’t needed, as Rauner is saying, why did the order not to do so come from the governor’s office? They had the Public Health press office saying to do one and DVA saying to do one, aren’t they the most knowledgeable of the disease and the home?
I get that once you’ve been exposed to the bacteria you contact legionnaires or don’t, so once steps are taken to basically shut the water off the exposure risk is greatly reduced, but DVA and Rauner have not shown any evidence to indicate the residents recieved proper medical care as Rich’s timeline indicates. No antibiotics and no wellness checks is troubling. Great they shut the water off, but that is not the end of the story.
McKinney and Arnold have been great at showing the “spin” angle, but that’s not criminal, care of residents isn’t about when a press release was issued, but if the AG is serious about prosecuting they need to look at the actual direct care residents recieved. The press release stuff is great for headlines, but the real question is whether or not DVA provided proper care or not, and unfortunately that is harder to convey accurately in a media piece and to a grand jury.
- Anonymous - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 12:50 pm:
Walters lawyer is probably looking at some big fees coming out of her indictment. If she said ‘no’ and everyone else said ‘yes’ that’s not good.
- NoGifts - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 3:21 pm:
And I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talking about notifying the people who worked there either. Where’s OSHA when you need them? /s
- Anon221 - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 3:26 pm:
Rauner said the outbreak was not contagious: “They do not pass from person to person. There’s no risk….”
A very ignorant response. And if it’s not pure ignorance, then it is obvious Rauner was more concerned on how press coverage would affect the public perception of his administration than allowing employees, residents, and family members to make decisions about their own health and safety. Instead, the Rauner Administration made those decisions for them because “it’s not contagious”.
- South Side - Friday, Oct 5, 18 @ 4:01 pm:
where was the Herald Whig in those early days? The Oakleys are buddy’s with all the legislators and Governors. Were they on top of the story with the paper of their TV stations??