
The Illinois Department of Public Health “did not identify and respond to the seriousness” of an outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home in November 2020 that killed nine veterans in just 10 days, the state’s auditor general concluded in a painstakingly detailed report released on Thursday.
The outbreak — which ultimately killed 36 veterans from November 2020 through January 2021 — was the largest in any of the state’s congregate care facilities. And the warnings were well-documented as two resident cases of COVID-19 on Nov. 1, 2020 quickly turned into 82 positive resident cases and nine resident deaths by Nov. 12, 2020, according to the report by Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino.