Sangamon Sun

Republican candidate for governor Jesse Sullivan is drawing attention to a series of lawsuits against the state over the deaths of 36 residents at the LaSalle Veterans' Home. 

"Today's lawsuit confirms the tragic reality of what we already knew: The Pritzker administration's incompetence and abdication of duty cost Illinois veterans their lives," Sullivan posted on Twitter. "These families deserve justice in court. If the state cannot guarantee the safety of our heroes, it needs to get out of the business of managing these facilities altogether."  

Twenty-seven families are suing the state of Illinois for the deaths. The litigation was announced Tuesday. Defendants include the State of Illinois, the Department of Veterans Affairs, LaSalle Veterans Home and members of its staff. 

Republican lawmakers from the House Veterans Affairs Committee questioned Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike about the agency's response in a 2021 hearing. The hearings followed Republican leaders' harsh criticism of Pritzker's administration's handling of the epidemic at the LaSalle Veterans Home. Linda Chapa LaVia, the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, resigned following the deaths. 

"[Pritzker's] hand-picked agency director took a hands-off approach to managing the crisis," House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Burr Ridge) told the DuPage Policy Journal. "Gov. Pritzker and his administration failed to lead and failed our veterans." He added that the "epic failure of leadership didn't start on Nov. 1 when the first veteran tested positive. It started months earlier when the governor did not act to ensure that our state's veteran homes were prepared for the outbreak."

Some of the errors at LaSalle mirrored problems that contributed to an earlier outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease at the Quincy Veterans' Home. A report released in April 2021 pointed to various failures to implement procedures or take proper precautions as negatively influencing the outbreak.

Republican lawmakers said the deaths occurred under Pritzker's watch and the team he put in place to prevent such tragedies. They also noted the team's glaring errors when the situation arose.