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Complaint filed in Hollywood nursing home deaths
South Florida Sun Sentinel - 9/15/2017
Sept. 15--A Miami law firm filed an emergency complaint Friday morning asking a judge for an order to protect evidence in the case of a senior citizen who died in her nursing home after air conditioning was knocked out for several days by Hurricane Irma.
Eight seniors were found dead at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills and hospital workers said they were left in sweltering heat.
The firm is representing the family of Albertina Vega, 99, who was discovered dead at the facility by staff.
Serious questions are emerging after eight patients died during a power outage caused by Hurricane Irma at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
Serious questions are emerging after eight patients died during a power outage caused by Hurricane Irma at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
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After air conditioning was lost on Sunday, the day of the storm, the facility "allowed its residents to swelter in the heat, and reside in unsafe and unsanitary conditions," according to the complaint.
After three "days of residents being forced to live in these deplorable and dangerous conditions," [Vega] "suffered intractable distress and died as a result of these appalling conditions."
Among the items the firm wants preserved: surveillance and cell phone video, documents or materials identifying all of the air conditioning equipment, policies and procedures related to identifying patient temperature and manuals that identify the criteria to transfer patients to a cooler area -- whether in the facility or to another facility or hospital.
A spokeswoman for the nursing home said the center "is cooperating with all regulators and authorities as it relates to the ongoing investigation," said Alia Faraj-Johnson. "All evidence and records in the control of the center are being preserved."
lhuriash@sunsentinel.com, 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash
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