Durbin, Duckworth ask federal VA to ensure Illinois veterans homes have proper disease planning, protocols after stinging report on LaSalle home, where 36 died from COVID-19

The report said then-state VA Director Linda Chapa LaVia, a former state lawmaker from Aurora, “abdicated” her responsibilities, leaving things to a nonmedical chief of staff who preferred to let each home manage itself, issued rules contradictory to health guidelines and failed to seek outside help as the outbreak grew.