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Today’s must-read

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* The Chicago Tribune’s Jamie Munks, Rick Pearson and Dan Petrella have a very well-researched, balanced and fair report on the LaSalle Veterans’ Home deaths…

As a young man in the Army Air Forces during World War II, Jerome Liesse flew around the globe, delivering supplies to far-flung U.S. troops, his granddaughter said.

Because of the coronavirus, Liesse, 95 and no longer capable of getting around on his own, spent much of this year confined to his room at a state-run veterans home in LaSalle, a few miles from Starved Rock State Park.

Like other long-term care facilities across the state, the LaSalle Veterans’ Home shut down indoor, in-person visits in an effort to keep the deadly virus outside its walls. Liesse was only able to see Evelan, his wife of more than 40 years, twice during those eight months — once separated by plexiglass — and held her hand just one time, in August after she had a stroke, granddaughter Jill Funfsinn said.

“He was just so scared of getting it,” said Funfsinn, a Chicago nurse who visited him several times.

Go read the whole thing.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 10:08 am

Comments

Crickets from the JB defenders…

Comment by Hahaha Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 11:27 am
Wow - that’s the Trib I used to subscribe to. I may have to get their on-line edition to see if this is a trend.

To the post: the article does a good job in pointing out the differences between Govs. Rauner and Pritzker in their responses (one tried to hide it and blame others; the other said that he owns it), but also reinforces that at the end of the day, the Gov does own this, needs to deal with this, and will have this be part of how he’s judged in any future elections. I think it also points out why we need to recognize when employees do things right (like the Kankakee situation) because they need that reinforcement goes a long way in helping folks stay disciplined in their approach to their work.

Comment by Johnny Tractor Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 11:31 am
I don’t think it’s so hard to understand what happened (I did read the whole piece, which was excellent), the question is more why it was allowed to happen.

Clearly, the staff and administration had been lulled into a false sense of security over the course of eight uneventful months. The 3 key measures - masking, maintaining social distancing, and scrupulous hand hygiene - weren’t vigorously enforced /observed. Once community spread took hold, the situation got away from them before they even realized it.

A couple ? come to mind:

- Why didn’t the Admin/Head of Nursing react (proactively) to the rising community positivity rate? That was the trigger warning.
- Did the home receive any emergency updates from IDPH/IDVA as community spread took hold in the county?
- Who sourced that hand sanitizer? I can’t stop thinking about it, because the first thing I look at is the alcohol content when I buy sanitizer. Nobody noticed this? Or was it purchased in bulk and poured into dispensers throughout the facility?

Comment by dbk Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 12:19 pm
=== the article does a good job in pointing out the differences between Govs. Rauner and Pritzker in their responses (one tried to hide it and blame others; the other said that he owns it), but also reinforces that at the end of the day, the Gov does own this, needs to deal with this, and will have this be part of how he’s judged in any future elections.===

To this…

Director Chapa LaVia still involved and director as over 30 deaths have tragically happened with her quotes…

… the political appointment and politics to keeping a director where these failures occurred, what political price is paid when rhetoric to what Chapa LaVia said before being appointed… and what Director Chapa LaVia said April… personnel is policy… and the policy right now… is that meeting the mission of the IDVA during the pandemic?

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 12:23 pm
This could be a staggering blow for the Governor come election time. Who knows? Besides the likely preventable loss of life, it just amazes me that the Governor’s team didn’t seem to learn any PR lessons or develop better crisis management communication strategies in light of the handling of the crisis at Quincy years ago.

Comment by Dutch Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 12:24 pm
Let’s go back to Chapa LaVia’s *own words* on April 4, at a presser;

=== “The home is following recommendations from local health officials with implementation assistance from the Department of Public Health to continue protecting everyone there,” Chapa LaVia said. “Our facilities are prepared for COVID-19. If cases do occur, we will work with the guidance from the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, our local health officials, to isolate, hospitalize residents as appropriate, and protect other residents and our staff from transmittal.”===

Words matter. Personnel is policy. Accountability helps to trust.

Chapa LaVia is still director.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 12:35 pm
Can our broke state ever get out of a business we clearly are no good at? Like taking care of veterans or issuing firearm owner ID cards.

Comment by striketoo Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 1:29 pm
This article shook me to my core. More could’ve been done. Why JB let it go on this long without removing Director Chapa LaVia is astounding. This may be the issue that costs him the election in 2022 - he needs to get rid of the toxic leadership at the IDVA.

Comment by Citizen Kane Monday, Dec 14, 20 @ 2:48 pm