ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, Illinois—
Tonight the Rock Island County Chairman says he'll ask for an investigation into the outbreak and handling of the Hepatitis A situation. Jim Bohnsack told News 8's Chris Williams he'll ask the sheriff's department to look into the outbreak. With the public health and tax dollars at stake Bohnsack wants to know whether the outbreak could have been avoided and who's at fault."If our investigation shows the way I think I it's gonna be, McDonalds has got to be on the hook for that kind of money for all that expense that we've got", said Bohnsack.
The Milan McDonalds has been at the center of controversy after it closed last week and health officials revealed an employee at the fast food restaurant had tested positive for Hepatitis A.
Bohnsack says he'll wait until the vaccination push is over this week then contact the sheriff's department and ask them to look into the matter. If they find a business is at fault, and failed to report problems, Bohnsack said he won't hesitate to use all of the tools necessary to see that someone pays for this mess.
"We have a State's Attorney and we'll go after them if it's not the county's fault. If it is, we'll take measures to correct that", the Chairman added.
He admitted there is never a good time for an outbreak like this but this one is coming at very inopportune time financially. Budgets are already tight and county taxpayers just recently learned they'll foot the bill for the Rock Island Mayoral recount. Bohnsack says, last month state budget cuts forced the health department to lay off at least two workers but he feels that had no affect on how the department handled this crisis.
