February 20, 2018

At Quincy Veterans’ Home, Duckworth Demands Answers & Calls for Accountability on Legionnaires’ Crisis

 

[QUINCY, IL] – During her visit to the Quincy Veterans’ Home today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) demanded answers and accountability from Illinois state officials who have been unable to contain an ongoing Legionnaires’ Disease crisis that already claimed the lives of 13 Illinoisans who served their nation in uniform. Even after three years of this disease plaguing the Quincy Veterans’ Home, the state has failed to protect its residents—in just the last few hours another case of Legionnaires’ was confirmed among the residents, adding to the three cases confirmed over the last two weeks. A photo of the Senator at the Quincy Veterans’ Home is available here.

“Our Veterans—and their families—deserve the very best, and what keeps happening here in Quincy is entirely unacceptable,” Duckworth said at the time. “We need to ensure our state’s leaders—including our Governor—follow through on their plans to implement a viable long-term solution for Legionella so that every Veteran whose life is entrusted to the state of Illinois is in a safe facility.”

Senators Duckworth and Durbin have long pushed for action to alleviate this crisis. Last week, they urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take on a more prominent role in addressing this epidemic and called for transparency from the Illinois Department of Public Health on the most recent confirmed cases. The Senators have also called for a review of the state’s response and have worked to ensure that the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Illinois Department of Public Health continue to receive federal assistance from the CDC and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“In order to fully address this, there must be greater transparency from the State and increased coordination with federal agencies to support the Quincy Veterans’ Home,” Duckworth said. “Senator Durbin and I remain committed to seeing this through and will work hard to secure any federal resources available to fix this crisis.”

Experts from the CDC and the Iowa City VA Medical Center joined Duckworth today at the Quincy Veterans’ Home.