STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF ) HEALTH AND REHABILITATED SERVICES )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 78-237

)

THOMAS SINGLETON, JR., )

d/b/a TOM'S REST HOME )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice a hearing was held before Charles C. Adams, a Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings at the Conference Room, Suite 205, Building "B", 6501 Arlington Expressway, Jacksonville, Florida, at 9:30 a.m., April 28, 1978.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Robert M. Eisenberg, Esquire

Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services

Post Office Box 2417F Jacksonville, Florida 32231

For Respondent: Thomas Singleton, Jr.

Tom's Rest Home 1834 Silver Street

Jacksonville, Florida 32206 ISSUES

1. Whether or not Thomas Singleton, Jr. should have the ACLF License No. P-4-16-0089C, revoked for incidents alleged to have occurred on January 13, 1978, when the Respondent spoke with slurred speech and was inarticulate in trying to discuss matters of the care and protection of the residents of his licensed facility; and further for the reason that later in the day on January 13, 1978, members of the Petitioner's staff went to the licensed premises and found insufficient qualified staff to assure the safety and proper care of the residents; found that the Respondent, or the person acting in the official capacity was not on duty, alert and appropriately dressed; found that the administrator had failed to insure that the staff was mentally and physically capable of performing their assigned duties and found that the facility failed to have at least one staff member on call at all times for the benefit of the residents.

   
   

2. Whether or not the Respondent, Thomas Singleton, Jr. should have his ACLF License No. P-4-16-0089C, revoked for allegedly issuing certain checks, to

   wit: check no. 138, dated January 13, 1978, in the amount of $40.00; check no. 149, dated January 13, 1978, in the amount of $10.00, drawn on the Atlantic Bank of Springfield and unpayable due to "insufficient funds"; and issuance of a check in the amount of $50.00, on January 15, 1978, and alleged to be nonpayable due to insufficient funds.

   
   

   FINDINGS OF FACT

   
   

3. Thomas Singleton, Jr. is the holder of ACLF License No. P-4-16-0089C held under the provisions of Chapter 400, Part II, Florida Statutes. This is a form of temporary license for operating adult congregate living facilities. Mr. Singleton is also an applicant for a permanent license for operating an adult congregate living facility.

   
   

4. Carolyn Bothwell, is a social worker with the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, who specifically works in the field of aging and adult services. Sane of her clients were residents of Tom's Rest Home, 1834 Silver Street, Jacksonville, Florida, which is owned and operated by Thomas Singleton, Jr. On January 10, 1978, Ms. Bothwell received a call from Mr. Singleton in which Mr. Singleton expressed some consternation about trying to collect money owed by one of his former boarder's at Tom's Rest Home. In Ms. Bothwell's opinion, Mr. Singleton's speech was slurred and he seemed very different than her prior contacts with him. On January 13, 1978, Mr. Singleton came to her office to further discuss the problem about the payment by the hoarder. His appearance was disheveled and his speech was incoherent. In this conversation of January 13, Singleton also mentioned that his wife had left him and that he wanted Ms. Bothwell to be at the boarding home when he told the boarders of his wife's departure.

   
   

5. Ms. Bothwell went to the location of the boarding home around 12:00 moon on the date, January 13, 1978, in the presence of other members of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative staff. When she arrived at the boarding home, she discovered that the boarding home was locked and the boarders were on the front porch, locked out of the hone. Mr. Singleton had difficulty remembering why he had gone to meet with Ms. Bothwell earlier that day and made no mention of the fact that his wife had left. In Ms. Bothwell's opinion he appeared very vague and confused. Ms. and the other members departed the premises a short time later.

   
   

6. On that .same date, January 13, 1978, June K. Frye , a District Program Specialist, with the Department of Rehabilitative Services dealing with adult congregate living facilities, spoke with Mr. Singleton. This conversation apparently took place in the morning. In the course of the conversation Ms. Frye mentioned that she had called Mr. Singleton to advise him of an upcoming reinspection on the question of considering his probationary license status.

   Ms. Frye felt that Mr. Singleton was incoherent and unable to give concrete information about the license situation. She asked to speak to someone else at the facility but Mr. Singleton was unable to assist her in that request. Prior to this conversation with Mr. Singleton, 345. Frye had never noticed any slurred speech or inability on the part of Mr. Singleton to respond to requests or to give information. Later that afternoon, Ms. Frye, in the presence of Mr. Otto G. Hrdlicka, went to the facility at 1834 Silver Street.' When they arrived they found that Bertie Mac Baldwin was in charge of the facility. Mr.

   Singleton's wife was not at the facility and Mr. Singleton was on the bed in his room, out of contact with the boarders. Several attempts were made to awaken Mr. Singleton, but none of those attempts were successful.

7. It should be mentioned that Mrs. Baldwin was hired as a housekeeper whose hours were from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day and at the time of the visit by Mrs. Frye and Mr. Hrdlicka, Ms. Baldwin was preparing to leave the facility. Ms. Baldwin had no responsibility in terms of cooking the food or attending to the overall needs of the boarders in the home.

   
   

8. Testimony was also given in the course of the hearing that Mr. Singleton had written a check for insufficient funds to April Russel on January 15, 1978. This check was in the amount of $50.00. Restitution was made on the check, however. Testimony was also given that Mrs. Frye had been approached by Marion Thomas, a cab driver who claimed that Mr. Singleton had written him checks on January 13, totaling $50.00, for which there were no sufficient funds. Again restitution was made for those checks. A representative of the Atlantic Bank of Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida, testified in the course of the hearing and indicated that the operating account of Mr. Singleton for his business Ton's Rest Home had been closed out in February at a time when the account was overdrawn $151.90.

   
   

9. Subsequent to the January 13, 1978, incidents at the rest home, the boarders have been moved and placed in other facilities. Part of the motivation for such removal was due to the fact that some of the patients had come to the boarding home after being released from the Northeast Florida State Hospital, at Macclenny, Florida, an institution for the treatment of patients with mental illness. It was felt by the program coordinators of the adult congregate living facilities that Mr. Singleton would be unable to properly care for these individuals and others in his boarding home and in view of the fact that no other employees were in a position to take care of the needs of the individual boarders, the decision was made to remove them from Tom's Rest Home.

   
   

10. Mr. Singleton gave testimony in the course of the hearing and indicated that he had suffered a severe stomach disorder beginning in April, 1977 and had undergone an operation to remove part of his colon. He says this caused him to take a number of pills as treatment. In addition he indicated that he had had some domestic problems with his wife. He also stated that on January 19, 1978 through January 23, 1978, he received psychiatric treatment in a local hospital, in Jacksonville, Florida, for his condition. He described the condition as a collapse of his nerves, which was brought on, according to Mr. Singleton, by failure of the treating physician who dealt with his colon problem to respond to a need to control his blood pressure.

    
    

11. The events of January 13, 1978, and the state of Mr. Singleton's finances have lead to a complaint letter of January 19, 1978. Mr. Singleton has received that letter and been given an opportunity to respond to it. The complaint letter falls into two broad categories. The first category pertains to the matters of January 13, 1978 and the second category pertains to the financial situation of Mr. Singleton.

    
    

12. Under the matters of January 13, 1978, the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services has alleged violations of Chapter 10A-5.06(5)(b)(2); 10A-5.09(1), (4)(a), and (6), Florida Administrative Code, and Section 400.414(2)(a)(d) and Section 400.441(2), Florida Statutes. Those provisions read respectively:

    
    

    10A-5.06 Operational Standards.

    Facilities shall offer close supervision and living conditions as is necessary to the condition of the resident. This includes supervision of diets as to

    quality and quantity, and watchfulness over the general health, safety and wellbeing of residents. There shall be daily awareness of the residents by designated staff of the facility as to the apparent well-being of the individuals with sufficient provision for contacting the resident's physician, if the resident has not already done so, at any time there appears to be significant deviation from his normal appearance or state of health and well-being. Appropriate notice

    of such instances shall be recorded in the personal records of the individual.

    * * *

    (5) The minimum personnel staffing for adult congregate living facilities shall be:

    * * *

    2. There shall be at least one staff member on

    call at all times when residents are in the facility. 10A-5.09 Personnel Standards.

    The administrator of a facility shall:

    (1) Provide such qualified staff as are necessary

    to assure the safety and proper care of residents in the facility.

    * * *

    (4) Assure that each person serving in any official capacity in the facility shall:

    (a) Be on duty, alert and appropriately dressed

    during the entire tour-of duty. In smaller facilities it is permissable for the administrator to be on call during normal sleeping hours.

    * * *

    (6) Insure that the staff is mentally and physically capable of performing their assigned duties. They shall be free of any communicable diseases which would present the hazard of transmission to resident or other staff member. If any staff member is found to have or is suspected of having such disease, he will be removed from his duties until the administrator determines that such risk no longer exists.

    400.414 Denial, suspension, revocation of license; grounds.

    * * *

    1. Any of the following actions by a facility or its employee shall be grounds for action by the department against a facility:

       1. An intentional or negligent act materially affect- ing the health or safety of a resident of the facility

    * * *

    (c) Violation of the provisions of this act or of

    any minimum standards or rules promulgated hereunder.

    400.441 Rules establishing minimum standards. Pursuant to the intention of the Legislature to provide safe and sanitary facilities, the department shall promulgate, publish, and enforce rules to implement the provisions of this act, which shall include reasonable and fair minimum standards in re- lation to:

    * * *

    (2) The number and qualifications of all personnel having responsibility for the care of residents.

    
    

13. It is established through the evidence that at all times on January 13, 1978, when the events as described took place, those boarders who had been assigned to Tom's Rest Home were living in that facility. Therefore, an examination of the events of January 13, 1978, as reported above, in view of the requirements set forth in the Florida Administrative Code which are related herein; demonstrates that Thomas Singleton, Jr. was in violation of those conditions and is subject to the penalties for such violation, to include revocation of the temporary licence ACLF License no. P-4-16-089C and the denial of an unrestricted license.

    
    

14. Moreover, the financial disarray of Mr. Singleton's business account for Tom's Rest Home, which was shown in the months of January and February, 1978, demonstrates a violation of Rule 10A-5.08(1), Florida Administrative Code, which reads:

    
    

    10A-5.08 Fiscal Standards.

    The administrator of a facility shall maintain fiscal records in accordance with the requirements of Chapter

    400 F.S., Part II. There shall be a recognized system of accounting used to accurately reflect details of the business including residents' "trust funds" and other property. The fiscal and "trust fund" records shall reflect a verified statement. The facility shall:

    (1) Be administered on a sound financial basis consistent with good business practices. Evidence of issuance of bad checks or accumulation of delinquent bills far such items as salaries, food, or utilities shall constitute prima facie evidence that the ownership lacks satisfactory proof of financial ability to operate the facility in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 400 F.S., Part II.

    
    

    This would also establish a sufficient basis for denying any application for an unrestricted license, because it would show that the applicant has failed to demonstrate satisfactory proof of financial ability to operate and conduct the facility as required by Section 400.411(2) , Florida Statutes.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

15. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction in this cause.

    
    

16. Based upon an examination of the events of January 13, 1978, it is concluded as a matter of law that Thomas Singleton Jr. has violated the conditions of Chapter 10A-5.06(5)(b) 2.; 10A-5.09(1), (4)(a) and (6) , Florida Administrative Code, thereby subjecting him to the penalties found in Chapter 400.414(2)(a) and (c), Florida Statutes.

    
    

17. Based upon an examination of the facts on the question of Mr. Singleton's financial condition in January and February, 1978, Mr. Singleton has failed to met the fiscal standards set forth in Rule 10A-5.08(1), Florida Administrative Code, and has failed to make satisfactory proof of financial

ability to operate and conduct a facility as stated in Section 400.411(2) , Florida Statutes.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the ACLF License No. P-4-16-0089C, held by Thomas Singleton, Jr. be revoked.

DONE AND ENTERED this 17th day of May, 1978, in Tallahassee, Florida.

CHARLES C. ADAMS

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings

530 Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304 (904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Robert M. Eisenberg, Esquire Department of HRS

Post Office Box 2417F Jacksonville, Florida 32231

Thomas Singleton, Jr. Tom's Rest Home

1834 Silver Street

Jacksonville, Florida 32206

Docket for Case No: 78-000237

Orders for Case No: 78-000237