4 face charges after nursing home deaths
Two years after Hurricane Irma slammed through South Florida, killing scores of people and knocking out power to three-quarters of the state, four nursing home workers are facing aggravated manslaughter and other charges in the deaths of 12 residents felled by the searing heat the storm left behind.
Arrest warrants were issued Monday for three nurses and an administrator at the since-shuttered Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, about 20 miles north of Miami.
Operators of the center failed to evacuate for three days despite a lack of air conditioning that caused temperatures in the building to soar, authorities said.
“I’m glad these individuals are being held accountable after their inexplicable failure to call 911 when people were in need,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who was the governor at the time. “The individuals responsible for these senseless deaths must be brought to justice.”
Defense attorneys said workers did all they could to protect the residents as Irma roared through South Florida. Lawrence Hashish, an attorney for one of the nurses, said portable air conditioners and industrial fans were brought in.
“The decision to charge these people is completely outrageous,” Hashish told USA TODAY. “They are scapegoats, low-hanging fruit for the Hollywood police.”
Hashish said administrators were provided a hotline number to call and even Scott’s cellphone number. But when the storm came and help was needed, calls went unanswered, he said.
“The politicians like to talk the talk, but they did nothing to help,” Hashish said.
Hurricane Irma devastated parts of the Caribbean and Florida during a brutal, two-week march directly blamed for more than 80 deaths across Florida. Irma slammed into Florida on Sept. 10, 2017, as a Category 4 hurricane with 130-mph winds and driving rain. Some areas of the state remained without power for weeks.
Days after the outage, following numerous 911 calls, the nursing home was finally evacuated. The home’s license was suspended a short time later. Attorney David Frankel, who represents the lead nurse, said the defendants did everything to keep the patients cool and hydrated.
Still, 12 of 14 deaths at the center were ruled homicides. Federal, state and local authorities opened investigations in the days after the deaths, but no charges had been filed.
More than 115 people were evacuated from the nursing home, some in critical condition. Three people were found dead at the scene, one died during the evacuation, four were pronounced dead at a hospital. The others succumbed in the days and weeks that followed.
The tragedy made national headlines, and lawmakers ultimately passed a bill requiring backup power sources in Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The legislation requires such facilities to have a generator capable of keeping nursing homes and assisted living facilities at 81 degrees Fahrenheit or lower for at least four days.