A state-run center for adults with developmental disabilities in Park Forest that has been ravaged by COVID-19 is getting a new leader.
Tameka Watson, unit administrator at the Anne M. Kiley Developmental Center in Waukegan, has been named interim director of the Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center.
She replaces Lisa Robinson, a longtime state employee who has served as the Ludeman Center’s director for the past 19 months and oversaw its pandemic response.
Robinson, who makes $107,628 annually as Ludeman’s director, is leaving July 1 to take a position in the agency’s division of family and community services, Illinois Department of Human Services spokeswoman Meghan Powers said.
She said Robinson sought out the new role prior to the pandemic and was not being pushed out or reassigned because of the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility, which has been the largest recorded at any long-term care facility in the state, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
“I think she’s very well liked (at Ludeman) and has been doing a great job,” Powers said.
Anders Lindall, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents mental health technicians, licensed practical nurses, support service workers, doctors, social workers and psychologists at Ludeman, sang Robinson’s praises.
“Lisa Robinson had already planned to take another job in DHS management before the COVID crisis,” he said in an email. “The agency asked her to stay on at Ludeman for a period due to the crisis, and we’re glad she did.”
Watson, a licensed clinical social worker who has worked for the human services department for a little over a year, has been transitioning into her new position at the Ludeman Center over the past couple weeks.
In an introductory letter to stakeholders, Watson said she’d excelled at building relationships with residents, guardians, staff and the union at the Kiley Center over the past year and looked forward to doing the same at Ludeman.
“I come with a humble spirit to serve and a vivacious energy to lead with the intention to collaborate with every member of this community,” she wrote. “I promise to be inclusive and am eager to run this marathon as an active member.”
Watson said in her welcome letter that she spent the first 12 years of her career helping residents in under-resourced communities deal with personal and structural challenges, such as substance abuse, domestic violence, housing inequality and a scarcity of fresh food options.
She then moved into medical social work, leading a team that helped patients and their families navigate the health system and obtain services they had been lacking, before joining state’s division of developmental disabilities in May 2019.
Lindall said Watson hadn’t been on the job long enough for the union to form an opinion about her, but that it looked forward to forging a positive working relationship.
She is earning $97,848, but her salary could be re-evaluated if she’s eventually named Ludeman’s permanent director, Powers said. The agency has not set a timeline for when it expects to name Robinson’s permanent replacement.
As of Friday, 348 Ludeman Center residents and staff had contracted the coronavirus and 11 had died of their infections, according to data from the state human services department.
By comparison, 317 residents and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at the other six state-operated developmental centers combined, and three of those residents have died.
Viewed another way, Ludeman accounts for 52% of all COVID-19 cases at state-operated developmental centers, but has only 21% of all developmental center residents and staff, according to state data.
While residents and staff at the sprawling Park Forest facility have been hit especially hard by the virus, the severity of the outbreak has waned in recent weeks, officials said.
More than 90% of residents and staff who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered and the vast majority of workers who missed time are back to work, department data show.
Powers said Friday that no Ludeman staff members and only one resident remained hospitalized due to COVID-19.
Parents and Friends of the Ludeman Center, a nonprofit associated with the facility that posts frequent informational updates on its website, reports that just a single home in the 38-home complex is on droplet isolation due to an infected resident.
Lindall said Friday that the concerns Ludeman’s front-line workers had raised during the early days of the pandemic about safety standards and practices had largely been resolved.
He said staff now have adequate personal protective equipment and that many of the workers who contracted COVID-19 have recovered and returned to work.
The boost in staffing has made a difference, both in terms of continuity and worker morale, Lindall said.
Previously, workers had complained that staffing shortages had necessitated frequent movement of staff between the facility’s homes and contributed to the spread of COVID-19.
While that may still occur on occasion, Powers said the agency discouraged movement between homes and had attempted to reduce the frequency of the practice.
Ludeman, which suspended non-essential visits to the facility in early March, is in the process of opening back up for outdoor visits only, Powers said.
Families and guardians have had to resort to virtual meetings with residents during the pandemic, which while better than nothing, is no replacement for face-to-face contact, she said.
The facility must hit a variety of benchmarks, including going 14 days without a COVID-19 case, before outdoor visits are permitted, but it’s close to meeting that criteria.
“We expect to have outdoor visiting at Ludeman very soon,” Powers said.
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