FHCA Statement in Response to Media Reports of Deficient Care at Monticello Facility

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) Executive Director Emmett Reed issued a statement following media reporting on the case of Cross Landings Health Care and Rehabilitation in Monticello, where two administrators had their nursing home administrator licenses suspended by the State of Florida for allegations of deficient care for COVID-19 patients.

“If the account in the news media is accurate, it is heartbreaking and frustrating that our elderly residents were subject to those shameful conditions by this operator. FHCA has hundreds of members whose top priority, always, is excellent care and  the well-being of their residents. We want to tell Floridians the rest of the story where our state regulators worked in cooperation with other long term care providers to take assertive action against this facility, not an FHCA member, whose reported actions would harm the good name of so many nursing home caregivers who are doing such exceptional work every day.

Floridians are fortunate that conditions like those reported are the extreme exception in Florida. They would stand in stark contrast to the thousands of caregivers doing heroic work for seniors at centers across the state – including an amazing FHCA member who stepped up to provide a new, healthy and safe place for Cross Landings COVID-19 patients when they had nowhere to go. Geoff Fraser and his team from  Melbourne-based Clear Choice Health Care worked overnight to ready their newest center – Dolphin Pointe Health Care in Jacksonville, which was built but not yet officially opened. They quickly brought in staff and obtained state approval to open the care center so they could provide a caring place for 14 residents who had resided at Cross Landings.

There is a real story of nursing homes and other members of Florida’s long term care community during this unprecedented crisis. It is a story of dedicated staff working through shortages of essential personal protective equipment, staff, and accurate information about the challenges being overcome in nursing homes across Florida. In contrast to the reports of a deplorable situation, there are hundreds of outstanding and upstanding long term care centers doing heroic work to provide the highest levels of care possible in this most difficult of times.

We commend the state and Clear Choice Health Care for moving swiftly to ensure that resident care and safety is the top priority, and we look forward to receiving additional support for our thousands of dedicated caregivers so that they can continue to provide exceptional care for those who depend on us.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2020

PRESS CONTACT
Kristen Knapp, APR
850-701-3530 or kknapp@fhca.org