Twice in the last five years, Florida hired to review area disaster planning a hospital run by the owner of the Hollywood nursing home where many elderly patients died after Hurricane Irma cut power to air-conditioning.
The Florida Department of Health awarded those no-bid contracts for hurricane and other disaster preparedness planning to South Miami’s Larkin Community Hospital in 2012 and 2014. The total contract price for both was about $79,000.
Larkin is 100 percent owned by its chairman and president, Dr. Jack Michel, according to Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) records. Michel is also listed as the 100 percent owner of the now-closed Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
“The purpose of the contract is to support hospital(s) in preparation for response to mass casualty incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive agents as well as natural or environmental disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, massive flooding, and pandemics,” says a summary of the 2012 contract on Florida’s online contract tracking system.
