HIALEAH, Fla. – A residential facility for the elderly has been ordered shut by the state after deplorable and unsanitary conditions were discovered inside the Hialeah building.
According to inspectors, residents were not only found in their own waste, but some were tied to their beds.
The Hialeah house is now empty, and the elderly residents have all been moved out by the state.
Local 10 News reporter Jeff Weinsier confronted the owner of the assisted living facility that was called Better Care Home.
"(It's) very very hard for me," Olimpia Martinez said.
State records show inspectors recently showed up at 8 a.m. to find an 86 and 87-year-old tied to their beds.
One of the residents was laying in her own feces. The other was wearing a diaper that hadn't been changed in 14 hours and was full of human waste.
The investigation showed the residents had been tied up for hours each night. The report said supervision there was "clearly insufficient."
"It says, according to the state, that the patients were tied to the beds and sitting in their own feces," Weinsier said to Martinez.
"Yes, but let me explain something. It's not my problem," Martinez said.
Martinez said she's owned the ALF for 15 years, and blames her staff. She claims they were trained in what they could and couldn't do at the facility and didn't follow rules.
"Is any of this your fault?" Weinsier asked.
"Of course it's not my fault," Martinez said.
Six elderly residents were in the house when it was ordered shut.
"How often did you go to the house?" Weinsier asked.
"Every day," Martinez said.
"You didn't see them tied up? You didn't see them in their feces?" Weinsier asked.
"No, no, no," Martinez said.
Martinez said she was fined $30,000 by the state and can't afford to fight it. She said she is going to die of hunger and be homeless. She said she also plans to write President Barack Obama.
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