A West Palm Beach assisted living facility is under the city's microscope.
Tuesday afternoon, West Palm EOC director Brent Bloomfield says they brought ice and water to Savannah Court on North Congress Avenue and offered the facility help finding a generator.
“We were upstairs earlier and it was in the 90s up there, and they have 65 patients on that side of the building,” Bloomfield says.
He says the man in charge of the facility, named Mike, declined the generators and told officials that some were already on the way.
“He told us that yesterday, and here we are 10:45 am today (Wednesday) and there's still no generators or AC units here.
Mayor Jeri Muoio and Commissioner Keith James stepped in.
“It’s their responsibility to take care of them,” Muoio says. “They can't just be cavalier about it.”
“I was alarmed at the lack of empathy that was displayed by a for profit,” James says. “Don’t do what's minimally required, just do what's necessary to provide the best quality of life as possible under these very trying conditions.”
Hours later, the director, named Mike, called NewsChannel 5 by phone.
He says he denied the generators because he knew he had some on the way, and didn't want to take away from people who needed them.
He maintained that everyone inside the facility was being well hydrated and monitored.
Police, fire, and city officials came back a few hours later and say that the generators did arrive, and the facility was indeed working to make residents comfortable.
“I am pleased that he is at least making progress and taking steps to rectify the situation,” James says. “Today is a better day. It won't be a good day until we get everything restored, but it's a better day than it was yesterday.”
Mayor Muoio says the city organized a task force Wednesday to go around to area nursing homes and check on conditions after the storm.
