A 94-year-old woman living at the Florida nursing home
where eight residents died after an air conditioning system failed in
the wake of Hurricane Irma is now suing the rehabilitation center,
claiming it showed "negligence and reckless indifference" toward its
elderly residents.
Rosa Cabrera's legal guardian filed the lawsuit in a Broward County
state court on Friday on her behalf against the Rehabilitation Center at
Hollywood Hills in Hollywood, Florida.
Eight of the nursing home's residents died last week after the
facility's electrical system for its air conditioning stopped working in
the aftermath of the hurricane that hit Florida on September 10.
Cabrera is a double amputee "without the ability to walk or live
independently," the complaint says. She sustained heat-related injuries
and had to be hospitalized as a result of the days-long failure of the
nursing home's air conditioning system, the complaint alleges.
"As the hurricane approached, Ms. Cabrera was told by the Rehab Center
that she would not be evacuated, but would be safe and cared for" at the
nursing home, the complaint says. She did not know that the nursing
home lacked a generator to power its air conditioning system in the
event of a power failure, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint further contends that the Rehabilitation Center at
Hollywood Hills should have known that the storm would cause a power
outage, and that if that happened "the temperature inside the facility
would be unsafe and dangerous" for its more than 150 residents.
"Notwithstanding these foreseeable, dangerous, and life-threatening
conditions, the defendant made no effort to relocate the elderly and
vulnerable residents or to secure an adequate cooling system for the
center," the complaint says.
The lawsuit alleges that the Rehabilitation Center failed to adequately
prepare for Irma after hurricane and storm-surge warnings were first
issued for Broward County on Sept. 7.
Hill and Knowlton Strategies, a public relations firm representing the
nursing home told ABC News, "It would be inappropriate to discuss a
pending suit. However, counsel will be reviewing the filing."
Most of the eight residents of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood
Hills who died had been treated for respiratory distress, dehydration,
and heat-related issues, officials said. Some of the patients admitted
to nearby Memorial Regional Hospital felt temperatures of up to 106
degrees, hospital officials said Thursday.
A timeline released by the public relations firm for the nursing home
says that the center's staff reached out repeatedly to emergency
hotlines and the local power utility in the days after the air
conditioning system failed on Sept. 10.
Nursing home officials also called the personal cell phone of Florida Gov. Rick Scott seeking help, the governor's office confirmed to ABC News on Saturday.
Scott's office said the messages left on his cell phone were referred to two other agencies.
“Every call made to the governor from facility management was referred
to the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department
of Health, and quickly returned,” John Tupps, Scott's communications
director, said Friday,
Full Article & Source;
94-year-old sues Florida nursing home where 8 residents died in wake of Hurricane Irma
1 comment:
I hope I'm wrong, but I see this as a guardian's chance to make money to pay the guardian.
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