The shocking news that eight people who were residents of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in Hollywood, Fla., died at the facility in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma has sparked many questions about how such a thing could happen. It has also led to nearly 150 patients being taken to local hospitals."The Hollywood Police Department has been granted a search warrant for this property," Raelin Storey, the city's public affairs director, said at a news conference outside the nursing home Thursday morning.Others investigating include Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Children and Families. No arrests have been made in the criminal probe, according to police in the city just north of Miami.Officials initially said as many as 158 people had been moved from the center; on Thursday, police clarified that 145 patients were sent to Memorial Regional Hospital — 141 from the center and four from an adjoining facility.The Rehabilitation Center never lost power — but a transformer that drove its air conditioning unit was knocked out, the facility's administrator said Wednesday. The outage left the center's elderly and frail residents vulnerable to the heat and humidity.There are currently no patients at the center. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has ordered an "immediate moratorium" to prevent it from receiving any patients; officials are also checking on other assisted-care facilities and evacuating them if they've lost power.Key details of the Hollywood Hills incident remain unknown, even after officials delivered an update Thursday morning. Among them:
- How much time elapsed between the transformer failure and the first calls to 911?
- How hot did it get inside the nursing home?
- Was the center's backup generator capable of powering the air conditioning system?
- How many staff members stayed at the facility — and did that number include doctors?
Officials acknowledged many of those questions at Thursday's briefing, but they also said they're still working on definitive answers.As patients suffered at the Rehabilitation Center, help wasn't far away: The facility is located across the street from a medical complex that includes the Memorial Regional Hospital — where the center's patients were taken after the scope of the problem became evident."We are managing 115 patients throughout the Memorial hospitals," Memorial Healthcare System spokesperson Kerting Baldwin said Wednesday. "Generally, we are treating dehydration, heat exhaustion and severe respiratory conditions, and we do have some critical patients."The first of the eight patients who died at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills had a do-not-resuscitate clause and died Tuesday, police say. That person was taken to a funeral home. But after more deaths sparked new questions about conditions at the center, the body was claimed by the medical examiner.Police have released a list of the patients who died:1. Carolyn Eatherly, DOB 8-13-39
2. Gail Nova, DOB 2-22-46
3. Estella Hendricks, DOB 1-4-46
4. Bobby Owens, DOB 5-16-33
5. Miguel Franco, DOB 9-5-25
6. Manuel Mendieta, DOB 8-26-21
7. Albertina Vega, DOB 10-10-17
8. Betty Hibbard, DOB 1-11-33"The suspicion is that these deaths should not have occurred," NPR's Jon Hamilton reported from the scene Wednesday. He added: "As of Tuesday, [the facility] was reporting that everything was OK, that it was using portable air conditioners and fans."Outlining the center's preparations for Hurricane Irma, which struck Florida with a storm surge, heavy rains and high winds on Sunday, administrator Jorge Carballo said: