DELTONA, Fla. — The mayor of Deltona snapped pictures of what he called “disturbing conditions” inside of a Volusia County health care facility, launching a new investigation.
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Florida Rep. Webster Barnaby’s office is now looking into the 120-bed Deltona Health Care facility, located on Elkcam Boulevard in Deltona.
The mayor told Channel 9 he was so bothered, he contacted Barnaby and Sen. Rick Scott.
He said the patient he visited couldn’t wait to receive care, and he knew going straight to lawmakers would speed the process up.
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Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. said his office started receiving complaints from a resident living at the Deltona health care facility late last month.
The patient said he was living in bad conditions and was not receiving proper care from staff. He started documenting those issues in July, when he first moved into the facility.
Avila said he stopped by the first week of August and “was let in, no questions asked, no ID verification.”
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He said the smell of must inside was “unbearable.”
“There was blood stains on his bed sheets, trash under the beds, trash that has not been picked up in the bins, human feces on the walls of the bathroom,” Avila said. “There was mold on the divider sheets.”
Channel 9 contacted the interim executive director of the facility, who said she was no longer with the nursing home. Channel 9 also contacted the facility directly, and were told it is working with the agency for health care administration to find solutions to recent issues, but didn’t elaborate what those issues are.
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Documents for four complaints filed with AHCA related to cleanliness and safety and security at the facility have been filed so far this year.
All four were corrected or resolved. The latest inspection done in May found no deficiencies.
Sen. Scott’s office has sent a letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that he shared with the mayor. Barnaby’s office said he is working directly with an investigator at AHCA to get answers and resolve issues.
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