By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers on a veterans affairs committee said if a senior medical officer had some domain over the state veterans’ homes, maybe that system would be doing better.

State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is frustrated with how the department is set up and with the information she’s getting about it.

She and other members of the committee want the person in charge of the state nursing homes for veterans to have a medical background.

“It’s very vague, we can’t hire this person,” Kifowit said. “This position has been open for two years. It doesn’t seem like there was any motivation to get the position filled when the (previous) person retired. And the director is a political appointee by statute; there’s no requirement of any health or nursing home background.”

About three times as many residents died of COVID at La Salle as did those of Legionnaires’ disease at the veterans’ home in Quincy.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]