SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration says it will hire architectural and design teams by summer to redevelop the Quincy veterans’ home campus hit by a Legionnaires’ disease crisis.
Michael Hoffman is Rauner’s senior adviser with oversight of the Quincy situation. He told a news conference in Quincy Thursday that the long-term goal is to build state-of-the-art living quarters for Quincy residents to reduce the chance of Legionella bacteria.
The bacteria grow in water systems and cause the pneumonia-like malady when inhaled from water vapor. Legionnaires’ has led to the deaths of 13 residents at the home since 2015. Dozens more have been made ill - including four more last month.
The administration also plans to buy a vacant nursing home near the veterans’ campus in case residents need to be moved.
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