December 8, 2011: Wrong People Being Fired in Florida ALF Mess

By Sylvia Gurinsky

The mess that is Florida's administration - or lack thereof - of conditions in assisted living facilities illustrates perfectly the mess that is Florida's government in general.

As The Miami Herald, which has done an excellent job covering the ALF crisis, indicates, the good guys are getting fired:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/07/2536275/alf-watchdog-i-was-dumped-for.html

Indeed, if there's anyone who deserves to be fired, for starters, it's ombudsman-in-name-only Jim Crochet, who is not fulfilling his duty to Floridians. He's been removing the volunteers who have been pointing attention to the problems.

Also on the "Must kick out" list are any members of the Florida Legislature - starting with State Rep. Matt Hudson of Naples - allowing ALFs to run roughshod over the rights of their patients. That also goes for Gov. Rick Scott, whose negative history with health care facilities is well known, but was ignored by too many voters last November.

Given its climate, Florida will continue to attract retirees. That's why both shoddy ALFs and shoddy administration must be cleaned up.