HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Florida regulators say temperatures rose to 99 degrees (37 Celsius) in a sweltering nursing home under investigation for the deaths of 12 residents after Hurricane Irma.
A Sun Sentinel report says a new document filed by the Agency for Health Care Administration says temperatures climbed highest on the second floor of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after the facility lost air conditioning. Ten victims lived on the second floor.
Federal regulations state that temperatures should not rise above 81 degrees (27 Celsius).
After reviewing the medical records of most of the home’s 141 residents, state regulators said most suffered dehydration or other heat-related symptoms. They said nursing home officials violated state law by not providing “comfortable and safe room temperature levels.”
In court documents, attorneys for the nursing home have said residents were properly monitored and hydrated.
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