HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (WFLA) – A tenth patient of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills died on Thursday, one week after eight other patients died in the facility after Hurricane Irma, WTVJ reports. A ninth patient died on Tuesday.
The death comes a day after the facility’s license was suspended by the Agency for Health Care Administration.
AHCA investigators determined the patients did not receive timely medical care because their caretakers overwhelmingly delayed calling 911. They also said the patients were not timely evacuated to the air-conditioned hospital located across the street, even as their temperatures began spiking as high as 109.9 degrees Fahrenheit—far too late to be saved. Several residents suffered respiratory or cardiac distress and at least ten of those patients ultimately died as a result of not receiving proper medical attention, according to the AHCA. The facility was also accused of making late entries into patients’ medical records.Information on the deceased:
- Carolyn Eatherly, 78
- Gail Nova, 71
- Estella Hendricks,71
- Bobby Owens, 84
- Miguel Franco, 92
- Manuel Mendieta, 96
- Albertina Vega, 99
- Betty Hibbard, 84
- Carlos Canal, 93
- Martha Murray, 94
In a statement, Gov. Rick Scott said no amount of finger-pointing by the facility’s management will hide the fact they “failed to do their basic duty to protect life,” and said those responsible “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”STORIES OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON-
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