A study 18 months ago recommended replacing the plumbing at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy at a cost of around $8 million… far less than the cost estimates that the Rauner administration has given lawmakers. But that recommendation was never acted on, even as more cases of Legionnaires Disease have been confirmed there.
The revelation is raising new questions about the administration’s response to the outbreak.
Meanwhile, one of the veterans home residents recently diagnosed with Legionnaires Disease was Governor Bruce Rauner’s invited guest at last month’s State of the State speech. Rauner asked 79-year-old Ivan Jackson to attend the speech after Rauner spent a week living at the home in Quincy. Now Jackson’s daughter says she may have to move her father out if the state cannot get the outbreak under control.