HIALEAH, Fla. – The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration cites a suicide, a resident missing for four days without notifying police, and an attempted sexual assault as reasons for shutting down an adult-living facility in Hialeah.
An emergency suspension order hung from the door of Happiness Care Center II. A man at the facility told Local 10's Jeff Weinsier that the allegations weren't true but refused to say anything else.
The facility is licensed for 30 residents. Most suffer from mental illness; others are court ordered there.
Of the more than 1,100 adult-living facilities licensed in Miami-Dade County, Happiness Care Center II was the only one to be ordered shut so far this year.
According to a 16-page report obtained by Local 10, the facility was in "substantial non-compliance." The following events happened over a four-month period.
Read: State vs. Happiness Care Center II, Inc.
On March 17, police were called to the facility after someone was seen hanging from the second floor, according to the report. The report stated, "A staff member was unaware of the whereabouts of the resident and was not aware the resident had committed suicide."
Days later, another resident vanished and no one notified police for four days, the report said. Records showed the patient who ran away was mentally ill and left without his medications.
"To this date, the person has not been located," stated the report.
In May, a resident showed a staff member a condom and said he was going to rape someone that night, the report stated. No staff members took action, and at 1:30 a.m. the next day, screams were heard from a second-floor room -- the resident was attempting to sexually assault another resident who was sleeping.
Happiness Care Center II was also cited for not having enough staff.
The owner had 30 days to file an appeal and didn't, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. The owner said his attorney is looking into options.