Florida Elder Affairs chief announces ‘immediate’ changes as embattled Orlando guardian Rebecca Fierle resigns from all cases
Gerald Manczak, a ward of Rebecca Fierle, said this "do not resuscitate"
order was filed without his permission by the professional guardian.
(Monivette Cordeiro / Orlando Sentinel)
The
head of Florida’s Department of Elder Affairs announced “immediate”
changes to improve the agency’s response times for complaints in the
wake of revelations that an Orlando-based professional guardian had
filed unauthorized “do not resuscitate" orders on the behalf of numerous
incapacitated clients.
In
a letter to the department Thursday, professional guardian Rebecca
Fierle resigned from all her cases statewide, writing that she would not
seek to be reappointed to any cases already taken from her or seek to
be appointed as a guardian again in the future.
“Please
be advised that I am hereby resigning as a registered professional
guardian in the state of Florida,” Fierle wrote in the letter, which was
first reported by the Associated Press. “I have instructed all of the
attorneys with whom I work to file registrations as guardian on my
behalf in all cases.”
In
a statement, Elder Affairs Secretary Richard Prudom said Fierle
“failed... families who entrusted their loved ones to her care. We will
continue to work with law enforcement and the courts to hold bad actors
who violate the trust of our most vulnerable citizens and their families
accountable.”
Prudom
said he and Gov. Ron DeSantis would seek legislative changes to grant
the department “the necessary oversight authority to guarantee our
ability to ensure that neglect and abuse to the frailest of the frail
never occurs again.”
In
the meantime, Prudom said he had made unspecified changes “to improve
our response time and thoroughly and expeditiously review complaints we
have received. If complaints are received that demonstrate legally
sufficient evidence of abuse, neglect or malfeasance, we refer those
complaints to the appropriate authorities.”
He added: “Something needs to be—and will be—done.”
Prudom’s announcement came only hours after the Orlando Sentinel in the latest of several exclusive reports
revealed that a 2016 complaint against Fierle — by a former member of
Orange County’s Guardianship Examining Committee who alleged the
guardian lied about a ward’s care and ignored her medical needs — had
sat ignored for more than two years, until it was opened for
investigation in April.
The
latest developments come as a transcript of a recent court hearing
obtained Friday by the Orlando Sentinel shed new light on how frequently
Fierle used DNRs.
“Almost
every case had a DNR,” Lori D. Loftis of the Office of Criminal
Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel told Circuit Judge Janet Thorpe
during the July 11 hearing. The hearing was closed to the public but the
Orlando Sentinel obtained a transcript late Friday.
The
transcript also revealed that Fierle’s resignation from 95 cases she
had in Orange County at the time was only temporary. The parties agreed
to appoint emergency guardians for Fierle’s wards until a full hearing,
to be held 30 days after the initial hearing on Fierle’s removal.
It’s unclear if the hearing will still be held in light of Fierle’s letter to the Department of Elder Affairs.
“The
exact timing of the appointment of successors and my discharges are not
entirely in my control because I rely on my attorneys to prepare the
resignations and judges to accept them and appoint successors,” Fierle
wrote.
Rebecca Fierle
However,
at Loftis’ urging, Thorpe revoked all advanced directives signed by the
professional guardian — “there are to be no DNRs or plug-pulling,” she
said. Loftis told Thorpe she had seen 90 cases involving Fierle and
“probably 88 out of 90 had DNRs.”
During
the hearing, Thorpe also said she had discovered that Fierle had not
been personally bonded since 2013. Professional guardians are required
to obtain a $50,000 bond to cover any liability. Thorpe said Fierle had
transferred the bonding to a corporation that dissolved in 2014.
“And so as of right now, she’s a disqualified person,” Thorpe said. “And it’s mandatory that the Court shall remove her.”
The firestorm surrounding Fierle began after the death of Steven Stryker,
a 75-year-old Cocoa man to whom Fierle had been appointed as a
guardian. Investigators with the Okaloosa County Clerk of Court found
that Stryker died
at a Tampa hospital after staff could not perform life-saving
procedures because of a DNR order Fierle filed against his wishes.
On
Thursday, Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman Jeremy Burns
confirmed the agency has launched “an active criminal investigation
into” Fierle, though he could not confirm if the investigation was
related to the Stryker’s death.
In
a notice that prompted the July 11 hearing, Circuit Judge Janet C.
Thorpe found Fierle had “abused her powers” by requesting that
incapacitated clients not receive medical treatment if their heart or
breathing stopped.
During
the hearing, an attorney for AdventHealth told Thorpe the hospital
system had paid Fierle for her services as a guardian to roughly 50
patients. An Orange County Comptroller’s review of 30 cases where Fierle
was appointed guardian found Fierle may have entered into a contract
with the health-care company formerly known as Florida Hospital that was
not disclosed to the court — a potential violation.
“We
pay for various services,” attorney Troy A. Kishbaugh told Thorpe,
according to the transcript. “We suspected in many instances that
AdventHealth should not be responsible for paying for guardians.”
"You
shouldn't be," Thorpe told him. "All payments to guardians come through
the court based on the statutes. ... I haven't seen your payments come
through to me."
"They don't," Kishbaugh answered.
"That's a problem, sir," the judge said.
The guardian needed to get permission from the court to receive funds from another party, Thorpe said.
Guardians
are court-appointed decision makers who determine legal, financial,
housing and medical choices for minors and adults with mental and
physical disabilities, known as wards.
At
the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Justice Center in Brevard County
Friday, Fierle’s attorney Laura Sterling told Chief Judge Lisa Davidson
that guardian Manda Wright would be available for appointment in two
cases where Fierle had petitioned to start guardianship proceedings.
J.
Rudi Trader, the court-appointed attorney for both wards, asked Wright
before the judge if she was in any way associated with Fierle.
“No,” Wright responded.
Davidson said she felt the substitution of Wright for Fierle is “appropriate under the circumstances.”
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