La Salle veterans home’s COVID-19 lawsuits proceed after 2-year delay

Court proceedings will move forward for 32 families who lost loved ones in the COVID-19 outbreak at the state-run Veterans’ Home at LaSalle in November 2020.

The La Salle veterans home had 203 positive cases among staff and residents in November 2020 that led to 36 resident deaths. The 32 families filed the lawsuits against the state of Illinois in 2022.

Last month, a La Salle County judge denied the state of Illinois’ motion to litigate the cases in the Court of Claims, where there is no jury and there is a limit on damages, according to a news release.

All 32 lawsuits were refiled in recent weeks, and the first court date is June 11.

According to a news release, the families consider the state’s tactics disrespectful, especially since Gov. JB Pritzker had personally reached out to many of them offering his condolences and pledging his support to them.

An Illinois auditor general’s report released in May found that the Illinois Department of Public Health, which is under the jurisdiction of Pritzker’s office, “did not identify and respond to the seriousness” of the outbreak at the La Salle veterans home, resulting in 36 deaths.

Families now say it is time for the state to show accountability. Although the veterans who succumbed to COVID-19 were elderly adults at an elevated risk for COVID-19 complications, plaintiffs David Liesse and Brenda Johnsen said in previous interviews that their fathers were lucid and likely had additional months or years to enjoy their quality of life.

Johnsen’s father was Howard Holcman, a 92-year-old Army veteran and retired operating engineer and farmer who, although in need of full-time care, still was active at his longtime hobby, fashioning rugs from denim blue jeans.

“There was just no way he should have passed at this time,” Johnsen said. “They didn’t protect him. We did our part, he did his part, and they didn’t protect him.”

Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Maureen Hartigan said in an email that the department was not able to comment on pending litigation.

Chicago attorney Matthew Walsh, representing former veterans home medical director Dr. Michael Morrow, declined to comment at this stage of the case. An attorney for the remaining defendants did not immediately return a call seeking comment.