14th resident of nursing home dies

Wife dies month after her husband

Cecilia Franco, who shared a room at the Hollywood Hills nursing home with her husband, on Monday became the 14th patient to die in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. The storm broke the facility’s central air conditioning.

Cecilia Franco, who shared a room at the Hollywood Hills nursing home with her husband of 62 years, on Monday became the 14th patient to die from the baking heat after Hurricane Irma broke the facility’s central air conditioning.

The 90-year-old died at 3:45 a.m., nearly a month after her husband Miguel Antonio Franco died at the overheated center, according to the family’s lawyer, Albert Levin.

“It’s a horrific tragedy for this family to have to undergo this not once, but twice within 30 days,” Levin said. “And to relive it is just God awful.”

Police are treating her death and that of another victim who died Sunday night, Francisca Antonia Castro Andrade, 95, as part of a criminal investigation, said Hollywood police spokeswoman Miranda Grossman.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also investigating the deaths of those who lived at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.

With time’s passing, attributing deaths to the nursing home’s sweltering conditions becomes increasingly difficult.

Generally, medical examiners are linking the deaths if the patients never returned to the state of health they were in before the air conditioning outage.

The latest to die was Cecilia Franco, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, had a feeding tube and could not verbally communicate following a severe stroke she had years ago, relatives said.

She initially survived the tragedy that unfolded Sept. 13,

but she developed pneumonia, respiratory distress and a blood infection that doctors later said she could not survive.

“My grandfather couldn’t live without her,” said the Francos’ granddaughter, Erika Navarro, on Monday.

“And he can now be reunited with her.”

Family did not want to share with Cecilia Franco the horrific news of her husband’s death, but it was clear she sensed his absence, their granddaughter said.

Cecilia Franco fussed and moaned, hinting at the loss she felt, Navarro said.

“Even though she [couldn’t] put things in perspective… she recognized his voice immediately,” Navarro said.

Miguel Antonio Franco, 92, would speak to his wife often in attempts to keep her calm and be soothing.

“My dad was trying to call her name, ‘be quiet, be still, everything is OK, don’t worry about it, I’m here with you,’ ” their daughter, Margarita Navarro, recalled.

Cecilia Franco had lived at Hollywood Hills for eight years and her husband joined her in February after needing roundthe-clock care after a series of falls. They shared room 229.

While at the nursing home, Miguel Antonio Franco was unable to walk, but he had still been in a better condition than his wife, family said.

Every morning, he would holler for his “Café! Café!” and he would almost daily FaceTime with his granddaughter, Erika Navarro, who lives in California.

“The only good news right now would be when this case is closed and people responsible [for this tragedy] are held accountable for it,” Navarro said.

The couple was from Colombia, but settled in Miami Gardens.

Miguel Antonio Franco worked for many years as an aviation mechanic before working in maintenance for Miami-Dade County’s parks and recreation department.

Cecilia Franco was a homemaker.

The 13th victim, Andrade, also emigrated from Colombia and had lived at the Hollywood Hills nursing home over the past three years, her youngest son, Edinson Andrade, said.

She died at 8:14 p.m. Sunday, surrounded by family.

“She was calm when she left us. We prayed for her,” her son said.

“We thanked God she finally rested.”

Following the evacuation from the nursing home, Andrade said his mother developed a cough, trouble breathing, dangerously low blood pressure and gradually lost her appetite.

She never got better. She also told him: “Please don’t take me back to that place. It was too hot.”

In addition to Andrade, Francisca Antonia Castro Andrade had three other sons, one of whom predeceased her.

She is described as a devout Catholic, who was reserved and enjoyed tending to her family and her home.

“She was a very good mother; she raised us well,” Andrade said.

“She always taught us good education; she was a good wife to my father.”

Last month, the nursing home was evacuated as patients succumbed to the hot conditions in quick succession.

In addition to the Francos, the dead include: Albertina Vega, 99; Carolyn Eatherly, 78; Manuel Mario Mendieta, 96; Gail Nova, 70; Bobby Owens, 84; Estella Hendricks, 71; and Betty Hibbard, 84.

In the days after the initial deaths, others perished: Martha Murray, 94; Carlos Canal, 93; Alice Thomas, 94, and Dolores Biamonte, 57.

The nursing home has since shut down. The state’s Agency for Healthcare Administration pulled its license and the facility laid off 245 of its workers.

“It’s a horrific tragedy for this family to have to undergo this not once, but twice within 30 days. And to relive it is just God awful.” Albert Levin, Franco family’s lawyer

CINDI PERANTONI RODGERS/COURTESY Miguel Antonio Franco kisses his wife Cecilia Franco during a visit in December 2016 while she was living at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. Cecilia Franco died nearly a month after her husband died at the overheated center, according to...