Nursing home where 12 died after Irma shuts down

The Florida nursing home where 12 elderly residents died in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma has shut down and laid off its staff.

The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, Fla. laid off 245 employees and notified the state of the layoffs on Sept. 20, the Sun Sentinel reported Friday.

The state had closed down the home after 12 elderly residents died after Hurricane Irma. Eight had died before the home was evacuated, and four more since then.

{mosads}The nursing home lost power in the storm, cutting off air conditioning to the facility.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) ordered an investigation into the deaths and issued emergency rules requiring facilities to have generators to power air conditioning if power is lost. Federal authorities also opened an investigation into the deaths.

Scott has also faced criticism after nursing home employees said they called a special hotline set up by Scott’s administration eight times in the hours before the residents’ deaths but that their calls were ignored.

“Every call made to the governor from facility management was referred to the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Health and quickly returned,” Scott’s spokesman said at the time.