Full Text of HR0726 100th General Assembly
HR0726 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Veterans of the United States Armed Forces have | 3 | | dedicated themselves to serving this country with honor and | 4 | | distinction; they deserve our deepest respect and gratitude, | 5 | | and the State of Illinois should therefore offer the highest | 6 | | level of care to veterans; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois operates four veterans' | 8 | | homes whose purpose is to provide quality long-term care, | 9 | | health services, and a supportive environment to veterans and | 10 | | their spouses; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Since August 2015, 13 residents of the Illinois | 12 | | Veteran's Home at Quincy have died from Legionnaires' disease, | 13 | | and at least 61 residents and staff have contracted the | 14 | | illness; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The first confirmed case of Legionnaires' disease | 16 | | was found at the Illinois Veteran's Home at Quincy on July 24, | 17 | | 2015; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, According to the Illinois Department of Veterans' | 19 | | Affairs (IDVA) Director Erica Jeffries, the Illinois Veteran's | 20 | | Home at Quincy implemented procedures to control the outbreak | 21 | | on August 21, 2015; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) | 2 | | notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | 3 | | on August 23, 2015 of five confirmed cases of Legionnaires' | 4 | | disease; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, A Veterans' Affairs spokesperson emailed Governor | 6 | | Rauner's office about the outbreak on August 24, 2015, and the | 7 | | staff had internal discussions over email about the outbreak; | 8 | | and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Melvin Tucker, a decorated Army Air Corps veteran | 10 | | from World War II contracted a fever at the Illinois Veteran's | 11 | | Home at Quincy on August 21, 2015; he was given Tylenol, but as | 12 | | of August 27 had not been tested for Legionnaires' disease or | 13 | | given antibiotics, despite the eight confirmed cases of the | 14 | | disease; Tucker was finally tested and confirmed to have | 15 | | Legionnaires' disease, but passed away on August 31, 2015; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Gerald Kuhn, a former United States Army Sergeant | 17 | | and World War II veteran, also fell ill during that time | 18 | | period; he ran a fever and was given Tylenol; Kuhn was also not | 19 | | immediately tested for Legionnaires' disease; he was taken to | 20 | | the hospital three days later at his own request, after running | 21 | | a 104 degree fever; he passed away on August 31, 2015; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Dolores French, resident and wife of United States | 2 | | Army Korean War veteran Richard French Sr., was found dead in | 3 | | her room on August 29, 2015 from Legionnaires' disease; she had | 4 | | died several days earlier, but the staff was unaware of her | 5 | | death; when her son called on August 28 after reading the press | 6 | | release about the outbreak, they told him that she was doing | 7 | | well; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, After 12 deaths and at least 39 confirmed | 9 | | illnesses in 2015, the Illinois Veteran's Home at Quincy had a | 10 | | second outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in 2016, which led to | 11 | | six more illnesses; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Another outbreak arose in the fall of 2017, during | 13 | | which three more residents became ill, one of whom died, | 14 | | raising the death total to 13 since 2015; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Eleven families are suing the State for | 16 | | negligence, and there have been calls for investigation into | 17 | | the actions of the Illinois Veteran's Home at Quincy, the | 18 | | Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, the Illinois | 19 | | Department of Public Health, and the Governor's Office, as to | 20 | | whether they could have better handled the outbreak and | 21 | | treatment of the residents, and whether they should have | 22 | | publicized the outbreak earlier in order to afford families the | 23 | | best chance to help their loved ones; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 2 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 | | Governor Rauner's administration has not made this a top | 4 | | priority and 13 deaths over a two year period is unacceptable; | 5 | | we urge the Director of Public Health, the Director of | 6 | | Veterans' Affairs, and Governor Rauner's administration to | 7 | | provide a comprehensive report to the General Assembly two | 8 | | weeks after the adoption of this resolution that includes | 9 | | detailed timelines of what information each of these agencies | 10 | | knew, and when they knew it, with regard to the Legionnaires' | 11 | | disease outbreak at the Illinois Veteran's Home at Quincy; this | 12 | | report should also include a detailed proposal on how to | 13 | | contain the spread of and end the outbreaks of Legionnaires' | 14 | | disease at this facility in the future; and be it further | 15 | | RESOLVED, That we urge Governor Rauner's administration to | 16 | | immediately make this a top priority; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | delivered to Governor Rauner, the Illinois Department of Public | 19 | | Health, and the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.
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