SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The Illinois Senate has voted unanimously to require administrators of state veterans’ homes to notify the public within 24 hours of an infectious disease diagnosis.
The Senate voted 52-0 Thursday to require notification of staff members, residents and the Department of Public Health. It would be necessary when two or more residents are diagnosed within a month.
The vote came hours after a WBEZ Chicago report that the state Labor Department rebuked the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for failing “to effectively notify all employees” about an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy veterans home in 2015.
Thirteen residents have died from pneumonia-like disease and dozens more sickened.
The legislation goes now goes to the governor. Rauner supports the proposal.
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The bill is HB4278 .
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