Questions continue to swirl around Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s handling of phone calls made by a nursing home in Broward County that's at the center of a deadly power outage after Hurricane Irma.
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It was revealed Scott’s office deleted several voicemail messages left by an executive at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after the facility’s air conditioning system lost power.
As the storm approached, Scott gave his personal cellphone number to nursing home officials. An executive at the facility called the number four times, records show.
Scott's office said not once did the caller indicate "patients were in dangerous conditions or that they needed to be evacuated."
At some point, some of the voice messages left by the nursing home were deleted.
WTVJ-TV in Miami asked the governor’s office who deleted the messages and when. The office has yet to answer.
During an event to thank first responders in Miami Monday, Gov. Scott revealed he never listened to the voicemail messages left on his phone. He relied on his aide to tell him what was said in the voicemail.
“I have somebody that listens. Either, I get the voicemail or I have someone else take it,” Scott told WTVJ-TV. Scott said his office did nothing wrong.
“We always follow the law. We always do everything to follow the law,” Scott said.
The voicemail messages could become public record under state law and they could be used as potential evidence in a criminal or civil case.
A criminal investigation into the deadly power outage is underway.
Eleven elderly patients died after the facility’s air conditioning system lost power and more than 100 patients were evacuated. So far, half a dozen of lawsuits by the families of victims have been filed.
Courtesy of our news partner at NBC Miami
