State regulators in Florida have succeeded at stopping a South Miami-Dade assisted living facility from accepting new patients following a months-long effort to shutter the facility. The move comes in the wake of two deaths at the assisted living center, and after multiple inspections of the business revealed a broad array of troubling findings.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the assisted living facility, which had 109 residents, at last count, is owned and operated by the same company that owns a Florida nursing home where 12 residents lost their lives after a power outage during Hurricane Irma.
Inspections reveal “widespread deficiencies”
In addition to two recent deaths at the assisted living facility, one of which involved repeated falls by a patient who had a known, high risk of falling, inspections at the facility have revealed a long history of trouble. In addition to failing to address allegations of sexual harassment, inspections of the center revealed an unusually high number of additional resident falls resulting in serious injury and numerous instances where staff members were improperly or insufficiently trained.
Understaffing, too, is an issue at the facility, inspections showed, and assisted living facility abuse and neglect and understaffing often go hand-in-hand. When workers are overtired, overworked and undertrained, performance and morale can suffer, and residents are often the ones bearing the brunt of the burden.
A troubled record
The facility’s ban on accepting new residents is not its first. State regulators first enacted such a ban several years ago, but then lifted it shortly before Hurricane Irma, reporting that the business had made the corrections needed to resume regular operations. The state again tried to deny the facility’s license, but the owner appealed the decision.
The facility must now stop accepting new patients, effective immediately, because it poses an “immediate serious danger to the public health, safety or welfare” as well as that of its residents. Whether residents still reside in the facility currently is unclear.
