Rick Scott scoffs at calls for investigation into his role in nursing home deaths

Rick Scott is firing back on calls for an investigation into his administration’s role in the deaths of Florida nursing home residents following Hurricane Irma in September.

On Monday, a coalition of liberal groups including Progress Florida, For Florida’s Future, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, AFSCME Florida, CREDO and others delivered petition signatures from more than 12,000 Floridians urging the Legislature to launch an inquiry into the deaths at Hollywood Hills Nursing Home, which lost power and air-conditioning during the storm.

In the days leading up to Irma, Scott gave his cellphone number to residents up and down the state, asking them to call him directly if they needed assistance.

Administrators at Hollywood Hills said they made several calls to Scott after the power went out, which they claimed were not returned. A total of 14 residents died from a lack of air conditioning.

“Who thinks that they should not call 911, rather than call someone who’s elected?” he said to reporters in Tampa after touting his plan to cut taxes by $180 million next year.

“The nursing home made the choice — and we need to understand why they did it — they made the choice not to evacuate. They made the choice not to call 911,” the governor said, adding that’s why he made the executive order mandating all nursing homes to have backup generators and fuel in case of power outages like that in September.

Earlier in the week, state regulators reported 23 nursing homes have not yet purchased generators. Those rules are facing legal challenges, but the Agency for Health Care Administration said nursing homes must still comply with the order or seek a variance.

According to the AHCA, nursing homes not in compliance by Nov. 15 will be subjected to a $1,000-a-day fine.

“It’s disappointing,” the governor said about those noncompliant homes. “You should expect every nursing home in the state to make sure they have backup generators and the fuel to care for all their patients in a time of emergency.”

Natasha Anderson, CEO of the Larkin Behavioral Health Services Center — located in the same building as the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills — was the person who called Scott’s cellphone number several times after the power went out in that building.

“My expectation was that we would get a better response,” she told CBS Miami Tuesday.

The Hollywood Police Department has launched a criminal investigation into the deaths.