Florida Legislature Urged To Investigate Hollywood Nursing Home

HOLLYWOOD, FL — More than 12,000 people signed a petition urging the Florida legislature to investigate Gov. Rick Scott's role, if any, in the deaths of 14 Hollywood Florida nursing home patients after the nursing home lost power during Hurricane Irma. The signatures were delivered by advocates from CREDO, AFSCME Florida, For Florida’s Future, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and Progress Florida. The signatures were collected by Progress Florida and CREDO.

"The 14 elderly Floridians died unnecessarily after they were left in the suffocating heat of their nursing home with no power in the days following the hurricane," said organizers in delivering the signatures on Monday to House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron.

"Several calls for help to Gov. Scott were sent to voicemail, then deleted, and no help was sent," organizers asserted.

Brandy Doyle, campaign manager at CREDO Action charged that the Scott administration "has done far more to look after nursing home profits than nursing home residents. We need an independent investigation to avoid future tragedy."

The nursing home placed at least eight calls to 911 over a three-day period beginning on Sept. 11, one day after the hurricane passed through the Miami area. Frantic staffers made one call on each of the first two days but then made a flurry of six calls in the early-morning hours of the third day. Each call corresponded to a different elderly resident who was gasping for air, in some cases even turning blue, according to recordings of the calls released by Hollywood police.

Only one staff member could be heard on the recordings even mentioning that the facility's air-conditioning was not working properly, and none of the calls suggested a link among the mounting cases and the stifling conditions that are now suspected in the deaths of 14 residents.

By the third day — Wednesday, Sept. 13 — it was too late to stop the tragedy as it unfolded literally across the street from Memorial Regional Hospital. By day's end, some 158 patients had to be evacuated, many on stretchers or in wheelchairs.

Scott ordered state health officials and the Department of Elder Affairs to issue emergency rules to "keep Floridians safe in healthcare facilities during emergencies." He plans to "aggressively fight" to codify the requirement into law during the 2018 legislative session. Some families have already announced lawsuits against the facility.

Here is the complete list of the 14 victims:

1. Carolyn Eatherly, DOB 8-13-39
2. Gail Nova, DOB 2-22-46
3. Estella Hendricks, DOB1-4-46
4. Bobby Owens, DOB 5-16-33
5. Miguel Franco, DOB 9-5-25
6. Manuel Mendieta, DOB 8-26-21
7. Albertina Vega, DOB 10-10-17
8. Betty Hibbard, DOB 1-11-33
9. Carlos Canal, DOB 11-4-23
10. Martha Murray, DOB 1-10-23
11. Alice Thomas, DOB 2-27-23
12. Dolores Biamonte, DOB 2-25-60
13. Cecilia Franco, DOB 4-2-27
14. Francesca Andrade, DOB 12-7-21

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Photo credit: John McCall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP