Administrator Angela Mehlbrech fired at Illinois Veterans Home at La Salle

The administrator of the Illinois Veterans Home at La Salle has been fired, and the chairman of the state House committee has opened an investigation into the a coronavirus outbreak that has killed a quarter of the residents.

The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs issued a press release announcing Angela Mehlbrech was terminated as administrator. Taking her place will be Acting Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn while a search begins for a permanent replacement.

The agency further stated the Director of Nursing at the home has been placed on administrative leave pending the ongoing investigation.

The announcements come swiftly on the heels of the opening of an independent investigation.

“I don't know what it is or who's responsible but something is wrong,” said Rep. André Thapedi, chairman of the House Judiciary-Civil Committee in a phone interview. “And that's why I consider this to be a legal matter. What occurred — when you have 32 of our heroes dying in our care – that's clearly a legal matter. So, I want to use all of my skills and all other resources that I have as a legislator to try to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Thapedi, D-Chicago, said the committee is “taking steps to conduct a fact-based investigation and hearings” before the new Illinois General Assembly is sworn in on Jan. 13, according to Thapedi’s Dec. 1 letter addressed to Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs.

On Dec. 2, Thapedi submitted a written request for a broad range of documents pertaining to the outbreak from Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Administrator Angela Mehlbrech, who was the administrator of the La Salle facility. On Monday, the state issued a news release noting Mehlbrech had been “terminated,” with Assistant IDVA Director Anthony Vaughn to serve as interim administrator of La Salle Home.

The written request asks for vendor information for the hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment used, as well as the specific rules and protocols related to COVID-19 in effect at the facility, among other demands for information and documents.

Since the outbreak began on Nov. 1, the La Salle home has reported that 32 residents have died of COVID-19 related illnesses, according to the latest update from the IDVA on Dec. 5. As of midnight on Oct. 31, there were 128 residents at the home, according to an IDVA spokesperson.

Two separate on-site visits conducted at the La Salle home — the first by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Nov. 12, and the other by the Illinois Department of Public Health on Nov. 17 — made several recommendations, including replacing the less effective alcohol-free hand sanitizer with an alcohol-based sanitizer.

The U.S. VA report provides examples of staff violating personal protective equipment guidelines, including an instance where three staff members in the facility’s kitchen were seen with masks around their chins, eating, and all within less than 6 feet from each other.

That report also states that staff who eventually tested positive had attended a Halloween party.

When IDVA Director Linda Chapa LaVia was asked about staff attending a Halloween party during a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing last month, she said that statement could not be substantiated and the information was based on “word of mouth.”

The report from IDPH states that transmission among some staff “may have occurred due to reported laxity of masking and social distancing while off duty and also during break periods while on duty.” As a result, “Increased monitoring has been initiated.”

Thapedi said once his committee receives the first batch of documents, the members will decide whether to make additional requests to the Department of Veteran Affairs, and to the Department of Public Health.

“Depending upon what documents and what information comes out of that first round, there may be some other entities or people or organizations that have relevant information that we can obtain, all with the goal of finding out what happened. So, it's a process,” Thapedi said.

The investigation by the House committee is separate from an independent investigation by the acting inspector general from the Illinois Department of Human Services, which Chapa LaVia announced last week.

Thapedi said the civil judiciary committee’s investigation is also not in coordination with Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, chairwoman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, who has called for an in-person committee meeting in Chicago currently set for Dec. 15.

Unlike the Senate, the House failed to pass a measure during its brief session in May that would have allowed for virtual committee hearings.