ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida health officials are tracking hundreds of care facilities that have operated or are currently operating as assisted living facilities without the proper license.
A News 6 investigation has uncovered the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration documented 243 locations throughout the state that their inspectors determined were operating without an ALF license.
Forty of those locations were in Central Florida, where Orlando had the most followed by Palm Bay, Kissimmee and Ocala.
Those are the locations the agency knows about.
Exposed in court
One of the unlicensed sites was uncovered as part of another News 6 investigation into the release of a repeat sex offender in Orlando.
Last year, attorneys struggled to find an assisted living facility that would house Joseph Berry, 56, due to his sex offender status.
Court documents showed Berry also struggled with mental health issues.
When his public defender found a facility, News 6 uncovered it was not only located in the middle of a residential neighborhood, it was also unlicensed.
Berry was eventually released onto the streets of Orlando, where he was soon re-arrested for failing to register as a sex offender.
In Miami-Dade County, police raided a home last November, where they said 30 people were living in an unlicensed assisted living facility.
“These individuals that are in here, that are employees, are not medically trained. They don’t have the proper certifications necessary,” Det. Alvaro Zabaleta said.
The owner, Otto Egea, 65, was arrested, and he was charged with operating an assisted living facility without the proper medical certification.
That charge is a third-degree felony in Florida, where violators could face prison time if they’re convicted.
Egea has a plea hearing set in February.
Watch Police Respond to Unlicensed Assisted Living Facility in Miami-Dade County
A life or death situation
“When you’re not licensed in something like this, that can be a life or death situation,” Jeff Harvey said.
Harvey is the CEO of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, which has handled cases involving assisted living facilities.
“There is a huge difference between a neighbor watching your mother, because you’re at work for the day, whether it’s in your home or in their home, and then putting somebody in a place 24/7 that is supposed to be providing around the clock medical care and around the clock supervision, that can’t even bother to go get a license,” Harvey said.
Harvey urges families to do their homework.
Check out the facility during off-hours to get a real feel of what the facility is like, talk to residents to see if they are happy where they are, check reviews and do not take the facility’s word for it – check the state’s website to make sure it is licensed.
“I know a lot of people are hurting right now income-wise, and so, I know that’s one of the decision that we take a risk, but I mean, you are really risking a lot,” he said. “You’re risking lives.”
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