The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills is currently under investigation for the death of 8 elderly nursing home residents, 6 of whom died from heat-related issues after the widespread Florida electrical outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Three residents of the nursing home were found dead and three more died at a nearby hospital once transferred. The cause of the other two deaths has not yet been disclosed.The initial investigation will be focused on whether or not the nursing home facility was up to code, including their back up generator and other required safety protocols.
During Hurricane Irma, a falling tree landed on the transformer which powered the facility’s air conditioning system. In preparation for such disasters, a backup generator should automatically switch on and provide the facility with power. Without the main generator providing power to the nursing home’s central cooling system, the facility resorted to several portable A/C units, but they weren’t enough to combat the high temperatures.
According to Mark Kosieradzki, of Kosieradzki Smith Law Firm, the facility had been cited previously for having insufficient backup systems. “The power went out all over Florida,” Kosieradzki said, “but in this situation, in the heat of Florida, after a hurricane with very, very vulnerable people, the residents started getting hyperthermia. Overheating because they didn’t have air conditioning or proper cooling systems for them.
“Whenever there is a change in condition of a patient, it’s important to get health care providers, doctors involved right away. This facility is right across the street from a hospital. The hospital had generators that were running electricity and caring for patients. When these patients started to decompose [the nursing home] didn’t do anything. They didn’t call the doctor they didn’t send them over to the hospital. When the police called for what they suspected was a heart attack they found patients were dead or dying from hyperthermia. That all could have been prevented by sending them to the hospital which could have cared for them, could have hydrated them and gotten them out of the insufferable heat.”
Mark continued, “The thing that I find most troubling is that they didn’t take these patients to the hospital when they started to decompose.
“We were involved with St. Rita’s nursing home cases in New Orleans… They decided to ride out the hurricane. After the storm passed, the levees broke and twenty people drowned in that nursing home. What we found during the litigation process was a witness reported the facility’s management turned away rescue buses and made the comment that they rode out Ivan, we are going to ride out Katrina, the minute people leave the facility, we do not get paid. I’m not saying that it did or didn’t happen in Hollywood but for some reason they chose not to send the patients to the hospital when they were suffering from hyperthermia. Which was nothing more than rolling them across the street.”
Kosieradzki & Smith Law Firm has experience representing post-hurricane nursing home neglect from the aftermath of the hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Our sincerest condolences go out to the families of the Hollywood Hills residents who passed away. We invite the families to reach out to our law firm for legal guidance through this troubling time.
Related Media
ABC’s coverage of the story.
