No new cases, 32nd death reported at veterans home

The Illinois Veterans Home at La Salle reported no new COVID-19 cases Saturday but said that there was an additional COVID-19 death suffered by a veteran at the facility.

To date, 32 veterans with the disease at the Illinois Veterans Home at La Salle have died.

A hearing of the Illinois House’s Veterans Affairs Committee has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 15 with testimony from agencies regarding the state’s COVID-19 mitigation at La Salle Veterans Home.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the Veterans Home has had 108 positive residents and 97 positive employees. To date, 37 residents and 81 staff have recovered from the virus Administrator Angela Mehlbrech said.

“We understand this news can be distressing,” facility administrator Angela Mehlbrech wrote Thursday, “which is why we encourage you to contact your loved ones for mutual support of one another. If your loved one has been affected by the virus, we want to offer you the opportunity to visit in person. Please understand this is a risk to your health and safety and though we will provide all the appropriate PPE, we cannot guarantee you will not contract the virus.

“We would like to further clarify our process for ‘compassionate care visits’ as defined in the IDPH guidelines. Residents who are positive for COVID-19 run the risk of a rapid change in condition. We do not want to risk that the family can’t say good-bye. These are singular visits, which have been conducted in the same manner for compassionate care visits throughout the pandemic – one person at a time.

“The visitor arrives at the vestibule in front of the building [between the two double doors] and buzzes for security. The visitor then completes a visitor monitoring form and security takes their temperature. All PPE is available there for the visitor and a nurse assists the visitor in putting it on correctly. The visitor is escorted by that nurse directly to their loved one and back out at the end of the visit. The visitor is not allowed anywhere else in the building. We continue to offer virtual visits and you can schedule those by calling the activity department.

“We promise to keep you informed as we do everything possible to bring our home through this outbreak. Our military veterans and our wonderful home staff are strong and resilient people. With your continued support, we will get through this together.”