Top Illinois Democrats and the son of a former military veteran who died of Legionnaires\u2019 disease at a state-run veterans home in downstate Quincy bashed Nirav Shah, the state\u2019s former public health chief, on Friday after he launched his U.S. Senate candidacy in Maine.<\/p>\n
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, and state Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, trashed fellow Democrat Shah\u2019s bid to replace Graham Platner as the party\u2019s nominee to take on Maine\u2019s Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in a pivotal race that could determine control of Congress\u2019 upper chamber.<\/p>\n
Before moving to Maine, Shah presided over a series of fatal Legionnaires disease outbreaks at the state of Illinois\u2019 veterans\u2019 home in Quincy that were linked to 14 resident deaths and the sickening of dozens of other staff and residents at the former facility.<\/p>\n
His oversight under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner\u2019s administration was condemned at the time for worsening the horrific and preventable public health crisis and causing a greater loss of life.<\/p>\n
The debacle, which was laid bare in a series of investigative reports by WBEZ<\/a>, helped Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wrest the Executive Mansion from Rauner in 2018, led to new state laws and a new veterans home in Quincy, and it prompted more than $6 million in wrongful-death payouts by the state to victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n Tim Miller, the son of Eugene Miller, an Army veteran who died from Legionnaires\u2019 disease at the Quincy home, said in an interview Friday that Shah\u2019s run is bringing back \u201ca lot of painful memories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the memories, and I\u2019ll just kind of put it this way, was the nickname that I gave him and Erica [Jeffries]\u201d \u2014 former head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs \u2014 \u201cwhich was Rauner\u2019s death squad,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe way that he handled the Legionnaires\u2019 outbreak in 2015 was unacceptable. I can\u2019t believe that people in his positions are part of these things, and then they just continue on the political trail like nothing ever happened.<\/p>\n Miller said that, when he thinks of Shah, his mind flashes on his father\u2019s flag-draped coffin.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope nobody forgets what happened in Quincy, Illinois,\u201d he said. \u201cWe lost heroes who served their country, who were promised to be cared for, and, under Nirav Shah, they were not cared for. We were not given the proper information we needed to make healthcare choices. And, under Nirav Shah\u2019s guidance, we did not have that information, and my father died a horrible death.\u201d<\/p>\n Castro was among lawmakers who grilled Shah about the Quincy deaths during joint House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearings in 2018. Castro had spoken out earlier this year about Shah as he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic primary for Maine governor, saying, \u201cMaine voters deserve to know\u201d about Shah\u2019s leadership in 2015.<\/p>\n On Friday, Castro said her reaction to his Senate announcement was \u201cdisgust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t understand how a gentleman who was so egregious, incompetent when it came to the lives of the 14 veterans who died under his watch and Gov. Bruce Rauner\u2019s watch at Quincy could even be considered for either\u201d the governor\u2019s office or the Senate, Castro said. \u201cI still can\u2019t understand why he\u2019s even being considered now.\u201d<\/p>\n Duckworth, who was vocal in asking for Shah\u2019s resignation in 2018, responded to his announcement by posting on social media: \u201cMaine deserves better than someone who put his public image before the safety of our veterans.<\/p>\n \u201cI called for his resignation then, and I strongly oppose his run for Senate now,\u201d Duckworth wrote.<\/p>\n In a statement late Friday, Shah voiced his \u201cdeep respect\u201d for Duckworth but dismissed criticism over his handling of the Legionnaires\u2019 outbreaks at Quincy.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the same recycled attacks that outside groups poured into Maine during the closing weeks of the governor\u2019s race,\u201d Shah said. \u201cI stood in town halls across this state and took every question, including questions about this tragic Legionnaires\u2019 disease outbreak, face to face, because that\u2019s what people running for office owe voters.\u201d<\/p>\n During a May 5 Maine gubernatorial primary debate, Shah addressed the Legionnaires\u2019 outbreak.<\/p>\n \u201cI could have done better, and that is, as you noted, I could have done a better job communicating, and I learned that lesson,\u201d Shah said.<\/p>\n Shah led the Illinois Department of Public Health under Rauner from 2015 to 2019. Shah later led Maine\u2019s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, then was the principal deputy director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n In this year\u2019s Democratic primary for governor in Maine, he lost to former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree.<\/p>\n Illinois public health officials, including Shah, delayed informing the public <\/a>for nearly a week about the deadly 2015 Legionnaires\u2019 disease outbreak despite knowing the facility was facing \u201cthe beginning of an epidemic,\u201d according to internal emails WBEZ fought<\/a> to get from Rauner\u2019s office.<\/p>\n It was a misstep a public health expert called \u201cmind-boggling.\u201d <\/p>\n