Warrington House, Inc. v. Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services

34 Fla. Supp. 2d 167
CourtState of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings
DecidedNovember 9, 1988
DocketCase No. 88-0171
StatusPublished

This text of 34 Fla. Supp. 2d 167 (Warrington House, Inc. v. Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering State of Florida Division of Administrative Hearings primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Warrington House, Inc. v. Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services, 34 Fla. Supp. 2d 167 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

DIANE CLEAVINGER, Hearing Officer.

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This action came on for hearing in Pensacola, Florida, before the Division of Administrative Hearings’ duly designated Hearing Officer, Diane Cleavinger, on the 6th day of May, 1988.

The issue addressed is whether Respondent is guilty of multiple and repeated violations of Chapter 400, Florida Statutes and/or rules adopted pursuant thereto, the sufficiency of which justifies Respon[168]*168dent’s refusing to renew Petitioner’s license pursuant to Section 400.414, Florida Statutes.

At the hearing, Petitioner called two witnesses. The Respondent called five (5) witnesses and introduced seventeen (17) exhibits. Additionally, Respondent agreed that regardless of the style of the case it would have the burden of proof in this matter.

Petitioner and Respondent submitted proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law on August 12, 1988 and August 8, 1988, respectively. Petitioner’s and Respondent’s findings of fact have been considered and utilized in the preparation of this recommended order, except where such proposals were not supported by the weight of the evidence or were immaterial, cumulative or subordinate. Specific rulings on the parties’ proposed findings of fact are contained in the appendix to this recommended order.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. At all times, material to this case, Petitioner has been licensed by the Department to operate an adult congregate living facility (ACLF) which is located at 6200 West Fairfield Drive, Pensacola, Florida, and is known as The Warrington House. Francis Cooper is the sole shareholder and operator of the Warrington House.

2. Prior to 1984, The Warrington House was known as The Heritage House and was owned by a Mr. Mitchell. Sometime in 1984, Mr. Mitchell was criminally charged with elderly abuse on his residents and The Heritage House went into receivership. Another branch of HRS who was represented by Esther Ward, asked Ms. Francis Cooper to take over the facility. HRS was apparently well satisfied with Ms. Cooper’s qualifications in running an ACLF since she had another such facility.

3. When Ms. Cooper took over the Heritage House the electrical power to the facility was about to be turned off. Only by Ms. Cooper’s pleading with Gulf Power was that circumstance forestalled. There were only thirteen (13) patients at the facility out of the sixteen (16) that were supposed to have been there. Three (3) of the patients had been mysteriously removed during the night. The residents that were at the house could not identify themselves and very few resident records were at the facility. The building was infested with roaches, there was raw sewage in the yard and the sewage system was completely blocked to the extent that sewage came up through the showers when a toilet was flushed. There was urine in every carpet. None of the appliances in the house worked. There were no air conditioners, fans or plastic [169]*169dishes. The floors were in bad shape. In fact, Ms. Cooper fell through two of the bathroom floors. When Ms. Cooper questioned HRS representatives about the appalling conditions of the facility, she received no responsive answer. After Ms. Cooper had taken over the facility, she discovered that Mr. Mitchell had absconded with three months advance rent from the residents. Ms. Cooper, therefore, had to operate the premises for three months without income from the residents that were there. She used her own money.

4. Ms. Cooper started with the air conditioning, flooring and carpeting. All these items were replaced. The bathrooms were tiled and additional bathrooms were added. She put in a $6,000.00 sewage system, a lift station and paid $1,000.00 to hook the building onto city sewage. She also brought in an exterminator to get rid of the bugs. All of this took place over a period of two years wherein Ms. Cooper worked diligently to bring the building up to “snuff.” In fact, in the time since she has had the facility she has accomplished wonders in improving conditions at the house. These conditions clearly did not appear overnight, but over several years and were apparently overlooked by Respondent until the crisis with Mr. Mitchell had occurred.

5. Ms. Cooper went into the house with the understanding that the corporation would eventually build another facility and close what had become The Warrington House. The reason for the new construction was that the current building, regardless of the amount of repair, was still an old building not worth maintaining and which was allowed to deteriorate badly prior to her stewardship. However, due to a falling out with her brother, who was then a co-shareholder of the corporation, Ms. Cooper was unable to complete her plans for moving the residents of The Warrington House to a new facility. She continues to attempt to obtain financing to build a new facility.

6. At least once a year, HRS does a full survey on a ACLF like The Warrington House. A full survey is simply an inspection of the property in order to determine the degree of compliance with HRS rules and regulations. Upon completing the inspection, the inspector goes through an exit briefing with the ACLF’s management. During the exit briefing, the inspector will go over any deficiencies he or she has discovered and attempt to establish mutually agreeable correction dates. The inspector also explains that these time periods are the best estimates that they can come up with at that point to allow a reasonable amount of time for the required corrections to be made. If any problems should arise, the inspector requests that the manager communicate with his or her office and ask for an extension. Extensions are not always forthcoming.

[170]*1707. After the full survey inspection is done, a follow-up visit is normally scheduled to determine whether the earlier cited deficiencies have been corrected. If, after the follow-up survey there are items that are still not corrected, the inspector will explain to the person in charge that they are subject to administrative action and that he or she will report the facility’s noncompliance to his or her office. Whether or not administrative action is taken is determined at a level above the inspector. However, it appears that the customary practice of the office is to pursue an administrative fine for any noncompliance after the correction date has been passed.

8. After the first follow-up survey has been made it depends on the particular factual situation whether or not further follow-up surveys are made until compliance is achieved. If there are efforts being made to correct the problems further follow-up surveys will be made. If not, further follow-up surveys may not be made.

9. In this case, James Temkin, an HRS Fire Protection Specialist, performed a full survey fire safety inspection on The Warrington House on September 24, 1986. During that survey, he cited 11 deficiencies. Various compliance dates were established for the deficiencies. A follow-up survey was conducted by Mr. Temkin on January 14, 1987. During that survey, he noted that 6 of the previously cited deficiencies had not been corrected. He recommended administrative action on all the uncorrected deficiencies. The six remaining uncorrected deficiencies were as follows:

(a) No up to date fire plan and the July 7th fire drills were not documented;

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Bluebook (online)
34 Fla. Supp. 2d 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warrington-house-inc-v-department-of-health-rehabilitative-services-fladivadminhrg-1988.