Showing posts with label Memorial Regional Hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memorial Regional Hospital. Show all posts

Friday, October 1, 2021

October 2021 Update on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, inc. The Related Group's 1301 S. Ocean Drive project. If fixing the Hollywood Beach Community Center was really so important to the Hollywood City Commission, why wasn't it listed on the 2019 GO Bond list?

October 2021 Update on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, inc. The Related Group's 1301 S. Ocean Drive project. 

If fixing the Hollywood Beach Community Center was really so important to the Hollywood City Commission, why wasn't it listed on the 2019 GO Bond list?


Updates on some important #HollywoodFL stories about real estate development proposals, projects that are either going to appear to you to be:

a.) Common Knowledge to you,

b.) Something percolating below the surface that you've been hearing faint outlines of for a while, or,

c.) Comes as a complete surprise to you if you aren't already following me on my popular Twitter platform and my new-ish Facebook page.


I've been working on these for a bit and even felt the need to share some of them as emails rather than posting them here first and then sending out an email with a link. I may likely have even more news about some of these stories early next week if some people I've been talking to decide to finally share what they've hinted at to me via phone calls and emails.

Real facts, real news, not unsubstantiated rumors or hearsay.

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So, via my email of Wednesday September 15th, 2021


Sad reality of what Hollywood residents are up against as The Related Group gets help from
City Commissioners, yet refuses to have even one public, in-person mtg. abt a 3-story luxury 
condo on public land. 
AT the beach!

a.) Since there are so many comments being made about this Related Group project, a project that's incompatible to its location in ways both large and small, physical and symbolic, and which to me represents a very conscious public thumb to the eye of every reasonable Hollywood resident and stakeholder by Hollywood''s elected officials and top-tier bureaucracy, and since everyone is NOT able to see, know about, or even necessarily keep track of who said what, I've made these 3 screengrabs below, based on what's been said/written the past 24 or so hours, as of about 1:15 pm today.

My purpose in doing so is to make it easy for you to find or highlight a comment quickly that you 
agree or disagree with, and not have to keep scrolling through everything to find it.

b.) Over the past week, former Sun-Sentinel reporter Ihosvani "George" Rodriguez, now working 
for Memorial Regional Hospital, has dropped lots of interesting facts re Hollywood Commissioner Kevin Biederman's rather strange and peevish behavior, and in particular, Biederman's unconscionable 
and reprehensible lies about Cat Uden actually being a secret, paid lobbyist against the project.

Having worked at a relatively high level on several winning national political campaigns in lots of different places with very different political cultures, doing policy and coordinating advance work and logistics, plus having worked for 15 years in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill and K Street for some of the largest law firms and corporations in the country in a variety of policy roles, 
I have a very well-developed Sixth Sense about local elected officials and govt. functionaries.

Especially pols who liked to pat themselves on the back perhaps a little too often, in order to try to endear themselves to the press, candidate, me, or our staff, I'll leave to another time my thoughts regarding how often elected officials who are at pains to always describe themselves as self styled "truth-tellers," eventually fall from grace when they do say what they REALLY think.
Suffice to say that I believe Kevin Biederman shows all the hallmarks of having fallen into this rather sad and dubious category.

ICYMI: Another unsolicited bid is generating anger in a city NOT named Hollywood. 
But plenty of similarities with us here about the public being intentionally kept in the dark when a government wants to do something that they know is very unpopular with the public.

Miami Herald
Miami-Dade | Key Biscayne - 'Give this a chance': - Key Biscayne softens approach to Rickenbacker bid proposal

Samantha J. Gross; Staff Writer
September 5, 2021
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/key-biscayne/article253941053.html

ICYMI, my latest blog post is:
What is the empirical data from Memorial Regional Hospital that the City of Hollywood is relying upon to re-open, and no longer be the only city of 58 in South Florida whose City Hall is closed to the public?

I encourage you to read that when you can, because right now, there is no objective criteria publicly delineated by Hollywood City Manager Ishmael on what parameters must be met for Hollywood City Hall to be reopened to the public again.
And yes, you read that right - Hollywood is the only city in South Florida whose City Hall is closed as of today. Why? 
We are either not getting the truth or we are being taken advantage of by the City Manager's office and the folks at Memorial Regional Hospital Hollywood.
I'll have some more news to share about this story next week, via some public records requests I've made to find out who said what and when to whom -and why.

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September 15th, 2021




flipflops365

Demonstration to oppose a 30 story condominium tower on our public land at #HollywoodBeach. This public land has deed restrictions for "open space, park, recreation, and public purpose." The land was given to the city to decrease density. This condo (99 year lease) would be 347 feet tall and 188 units. @joshlevymayorofhollywoodfl says that they can ignore height/density restrictions because it's public land.
The city has not even given the public one in-person meeting about the condo. They won’t even tell the public that they have the ability to oppose. All of the emails have been misleading, as if it’s a done deal. Commissioner Shuham CShuham@hollywoodfl.org asked that the city manager look into other ways to fund a remodel of the community center. Has he? (You can email the city manager Wazir Ishmael about this). Wishmael@hollywoodfl.org
.
If you live, work, vacation in, or visit Hollywood: Sign the petition at Change.org/WeLoveHollywoodBeach 😎 You’ll receive an alert about the next event.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2Ia0krycq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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I received this email on Saturday September 25th, 2021


Subject: A Message From The President of The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations  


Mayor and Commissioners,

The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations (HCCA) agrees with District 1 Commissioner Shuham and opposes this P3 project at 1301 S. Ocean Drive. We join all the other organizations such as the Hollywood Beach Civic Assn, the Hollywood Lakes Civic Assn, the Hollywood Hills Civic Assn. the Summit Towers Condo Assn, The North Hollywood Beach Civic Assn, the Hollywood Historical Society, the Friends of Hollywood, North Central Civic Assn, the Sierra Club and scores of individual residents and taxpayers who also agree with Commissioner Shuham. The reasons for this opposition have been well stated. To burden the taxpayers with a 99 lease with a private condo association that clearly violates the intent of a 45 year old deed restriction especially when there are potentially other funding sources for the community center replacement does not make good sense to anybody but the developer.

We feel that it is your duty as elected officials to adhere to the wishes and desires of the residents that elected you to office and move on from this bad project.

TERRY CANTRELL
President - HCCA



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I received this email today

From: Friends of Hollywood Florida Inc. <friendsofhollywoodfl@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 1, 2021 at 1:32 PM
Subject: Why Wasn't This On The GO Bond?


Beach Azalea













Dear Mayor & Commissioners,

The Hollywood Beach Coalition and its members have been following as
many presentations and meetings as possible on this project.
We have been listening to all the voices, the developer, city staff,
comments from the commission, comments from the residents of Hollywood
and the community at large.

We are of the opinion and have concluded that this project is not in the
best interest of Hollywood or its residents and we are opposed to it.

We share many of the same concerns and join all the other organizations
and scores of other individual residents and taxpayers that you already
have heard from, in opposing this project, as presented.

Below are some of the points that have been brought to the Hollywood
Beach Coalitions attention and why we are against this P3 project:

We do not believe that the height of this project conforms to the
surrounding area and certainly is against the “bookend” plan that city
staff has previous put forth for beach building heights in the CRA
district. This project will dwarf surrounding buildings.

We believe the city did not do their due diligence when they did not get
an appraisal for the property particularly in light of the fact that
other assemblages of property on the barrier island are for much greater
prices than what is being offered by this project, in our opinion.

There is concern about a 99 year lease and the possible renewal of
another 99 year lease term at its end. Clearly, this would be a sale and
not a lease.
Who would evict the condo owners if the lease was not paid? Who would
pay to demolish the building and return the property to as is condition,
at the end of the lease?
Would the city really evict 190 condo owners for nonpayment of the lease
payments?

Parking for the beach community center would be problematic for the many
older or disabled residents that continually use this facility and they
would have to compete to get a parking space with the proposed condo
residents, beach users and those that would use the proposed restaurant
and community center.
Look at what happened at Margaritaville where the hotel has taken over
the public parking spaces.

The issue of how the developer would transfer title to the condo
association is still unresolved as the P3 state statute does not appear
to address or allow this type of transfer or assignment.
A comprehensive agreement would not be able to supersede the state statute.
This question remains unanswered.

We believe the original deed transfer is quite clear to its purpose and
we do not see how a condo project built on this land qualifies as a
public purpose, as it will be closed to the public and we do not see how
it comports to the P3 statute with an ensuing transfer of ownership from
the developer to a condo association.

We also heard that there were known defects of the beach community
center since 2018 which were not divulged to the public and monies were
not put on the GO Bond to maintain and update this beach community center.
These defects are now being used as an excuse and driving force about
getting a new beach community center.
This is very problematic to the community at large.
Either pass a new GO Bond, take savings from the GO Bond, have the Beach
CRA pay to renovate, remodel or build a new community center or look for
other financing methods.

There were no Beach CRA projects on the GO Bond list and this is
certainly something that should have qualified.

This is some of the last beachfront property that the city owns.

This is prime beachfront property that Hollywood should keep and utilize
for the enjoyment and use of future generations of Hollywood residents
and taxpayers.
Once gone, it cannot be replaced.

We hope that you will move on from this project as presented, as it
seems most of your electorate is in agreement that this is not a project
for Hollywood.
If you doubt this statement, please put it out for vote to the community
at large.

Thank you,

Bob Glickman
On Behalf of the Hollywood Beach Coalition

Dave 

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Message from Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober on Ebola Virus Precautions and Preparedness at Memorial Regional Hospital-Hollywood, @mhshospital; It's time for #HallandaleBeach residents to let City Hall know they want changes to existing emergency transportation policy re Aventura Hospital vs. Memorial Regional Hospital

Looking northwest from N. Johnson & N. 35th Avenue in Hollywood, FL at part of the main campus of Memorial Regional Hospital, the flagship facility of Memorial Healthcare System's far-flung Broward healthcare empire. November 1, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

My comments are below yesterday's email that I received from Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober.
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Dear Hollywood Residents:

Like most of you, I’ve been watching with great interest recent news reports about the outbreak of the Ebola virus.  As Mayor, it is therefore appropriate to advise Hollywood residents what is being done locally to monitor the Ebola virus as well as coordinate a preparedness plan.  To be clear, there have been no cases of Ebola reported in South Florida, to date.

I wanted you to know the steps the City of Hollywood and our regional partners take whenever there is concern regarding the spread of an infectious disease like Ebola.  The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with local hospitals and healthcare facilities, medical officials, fire/rescue, police and emergency management agencies, has implemented preparedness plans to respond to the situation and take a series of precautionary measures.

Every Florida hospital has been requested to mandate all healthcare professionals undergo Ebola protection training.  Local hospitals, such as Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, have implemented the following protocols to protect personnel from exposure to Ebola and other infectious diseases:

If someone walks into a hospital and has symptoms consistent with Ebola, hospital staff will quarantine the patient, wear protective gear to protect themselves from possible exposure, and begin treating the symptoms.
Hospital staff use a “buddy system” while putting on and removing protective gear to ensure medical personnel wear and remove protective gear properly.

If someone calls 911 to report a possible infection:
The 911 dispatcher asks the caller about his/her symptoms and whether he/she has traveled to West Africa within the last 2-21 days and/or has come into contact with someone who is infected with Ebola. 
When Fire/Rescue is dispatched to the caller’s address, firefighter/paramedics wear protective gear, such as gloves and masks, while examining the patient. 
Fire/Rescue notifies the hospital of a possible Ebola infection.  The hospital will then prepare an isolated room to treat the patient.
After transporting an infected patient, Fire Rescue crews will quarantine and disinfect the rescue unit used to transport the patient to the hospital. 

Other precautions by the City of Hollywood include:
Hollywood Police Officers use protective gloves and masks while handling individuals who are suspected of having any infectious disease.  The department has a service to disinfect police vehicles after transporting individuals suspected of having an infectious disease.
Hollywood Emergency Management is monitoring the Ebola outbreak, receiving daily updates from the Florida Department of Health, Broward County Emergency Management, local hospitals and regional law enforcement agencies, and providing status updates.

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions related to the Ebola outbreak:

What is Ebola?
Ebola is an animal-borne virus that was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa.  Previously called Ebola hemorrhagic fever, outbreaks occur sporadically in Africa.  Human death rates for Ebola range from 50 percent to 90 percent. 

How does Ebola spread?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Ebola virus is spread through direct contact (through broken skin or unprotected mucous membranes) with:

A sick person’s blood or bodily fluids, including but not  limited to urine, saliva, feces, vomit, and semen.
Contaminated objects (like needles and syringes). 
African bats and primates (by contact with their blood, fluids,  or infected meat).
The virus is not an airborne virus.  Signs of Ebola include fever (greater than 38.6°C or 101.5°F) and symptoms such as: 

Severe headache Diarrhea
Muscle pain Abdominal pain
Vomiting Unexplained hemorrhaging

The time between exposure to the Ebola virus and the first sign of symptoms is two to 21 days, though the average time is eight to 10 days.  A person infected with the Ebola virus is not contagious until symptoms appear.

What should I do if I suspect someone might have Ebola?
If you know or encounter anyone who meets these criteria, please avoid contact with the individual, call 911, and ensure that he/she is treated at a local hospital immediately. 

Is Ebola treatable?
Early recognition is important to treating and preventing the spread of Ebola.  There is no vaccine for Ebola.  However, symptoms of Ebola are treated as they appear: 

Providing intravenous fluids and balancing electrolytes (body salts). 
Maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure. 
Treating other infections if they occur. 

Experimental vaccines and treatments for Ebola are under development, but have not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness.

How are people screened for Ebola?
Current Ebola screening procedures include:

Checking for the symptoms described above AND whether an individual suffering from symptoms has traveled to West Africa (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone or other countries where Ebola virus transmission has been reported) or the Democratic Republic of Congo within 21 days (3 weeks) of symptom onset. 
Screening an individual who exhibits the symptoms described above, and who has been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with Ebola.

In conclusion, the Ebola virus is a serious issue, and it demands serious attention at all levels of government.  Please know that City Hall is closely monitoring this issue, as well as the global events surrounding it, which unfold daily.  Additional information can be obtained through the Florida Department of Health-Broward County at 954.467.4700, and I will work to ensure that City Hall informs you about any additional preparations occurring at the local level as such information becomes available.  In the interim, the City of Hollywood will continue to implement all recommended protective and preventive measures.  Wishing you and your family all the best, I hope you continue to stay informed about this important public safety issue. 

Sincerely,

Mayor Peter Bober

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Like many of you, I've had unpleasant personal/family experiences over at Aventura Hospital over the recent past -in my case, several- that cause me to have great misgivings about ever suggesting to anyone that they go there instead of to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
Even if it's physically closer, even if it's for something relatively minor.


My own experiences at Memorial have been uniformily very good-to-excellent and the differences in how you are treated as a patient or a family member by the staff -and the process itself- are literally night-and-day.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-life-of-late-another-brush-with-good.html

I never wrote about how truly bad things were at Aventura Hospital and the many, many upsetting things my late father and I dealt with there with respect to the level of care he received, the apathy/attitudes of many hospital employees I dealt with and their bureaucratic process. 

To say nothing of the days he was basically held hostage there on a visit for some tests that should have taken no more than 3-4 hours.
After my father died -elsewhere- I've often regretted letting that slide and NOT taking them to task, as they were/are the very picture of  target-rich environment.
Though I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt at the beginning after all the negatives I'd heard from area residents and neighbors after returning to South Florida, I came to learn the hard way that the hospital's bad rep was, indeed, EARNED.

I mention this because this timely email from Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober yesterday morning makes me wonder how much longer Hallandale Beach-area residents must tolerate City of Hallandale Beach Fire/EMT personnel continuing to (usually) disregard people's stated desire to be transported to Memorial instead of Aventura when they call for an ambulance.

It seems to me like some time after November's election would be a good time for Hallandale Beach residents and business owners to let their new City Commission know that they want to seriously re-examine that existing transportation policy, since more than a few of you have told me that you've left specific -or even written- instructions with family members and friends that you do NOT want to ever be transported to Aventura Hospital -under any circumstances.

Trust me, for all the wrong reasons, I know exactly what you mean.

Monday, November 14, 2011

My life of late: another brush with the good side of America's healthcare system, plus the consistent downside of Adobe Flash & Google Chrome -Crash!

Looking northwest from N. Johnson & N. 35th Avenue in Hollywood at part of the main campus of Memorial Regional Hospital, the flagship facility of Memorial Healthcare System's far-flung Broward healthcare empire. Now if only there was a place where I could get some TLC for my mis-behaving desktop computer that's been driving me crazy the past month. November 1, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

My life of late: another brush with the good side of America's healthcare system, plus the consistent downside of Adobe Flash & Google Chrome -Crash!

Though you well-informed readers out there in the blogosphere are blithely unaware of it wherever you are reading this now, which could be anywhere in the world or from one of South Florida's many feudal duchies or banana republics, the past three weeks have been quite difficult around my little media empire.

First, my father, who suffered a stroke exactly one year ago -while watching a Dolphins game!-and whom since May has been confined to a wheelchair at the nearby ALF in Hollywood where he lives, has been sick and eventually needed an operation late last week at Memorial, above.

My father received excellent care there from everyone from beginning to discharge, and best of all, it was very efficient -no long waits for anything, unlike Aventura Hospital.

(Plus, I was able to become reacquainted with the surgical lobby reception area and memorize yet another code of cable TV numbers during one particular nine-hour stretch on a sofa there. More useless numbers in my head!)

Consequently, I've had to spend even more time than usual with him during the day and night, wearing my hats of chauffeur, walking medical history and medical paperwork expert.
As it affects things here at Blog Central, I've been getting home later and much more exhausted and frazzled, with the result that my post-midnight dispatches from my corner of South Florida have been far and few between.

I've even had to miss a few Hallandale Beach and Hollywood City Commission/CRA meetings that I'd usually have been at and participated in via a pointed question or two.

It's not exactly a secret that I definitely could use a break for about a week from everything and everyone in South Florida to unwind.
And as I've been pondering the solution to that, what is more the opposite of South Florida right now than our old friend, Reykjavik, Iceland?


Icelandair video: Unique Iceland: What to do in Reykjavik?
Icelandic actress Þóra Karítas Árnadóttir -a.k.a. Thora Karitas - explains a few things about the fascinating and awesome island known as Ísland.

http://youtu.be/Rkr1O6mvHUc

(More on that possible trip soon.)


Second, I have been having bad problems with the computer, ones that have NEVER been worse than they have been the past two weeks, which explains why I have so many blog posts still frozen in Draft form that I thought would've long since been posted here.

I seemingly can't go two hours without something happening with Google Chrome or Adobe that causes me to get up and walk away from the computer in anger.
As if my ridiculously slow Internet speed from AT&T U-verse wasn't frustrating enough.

Why in November of 2011 are the Google geniuses in Mountain View, CA unable to fix Google Chrome so that everything isn't crashing all the time?

This recent avalanche of Chrome crashes is literally making me re-think my fateful decision to axe Mozilla Firefox a few months ago and go back to Chrome after their I initially exiled them during the Browser War Crimes Tribunals of 2008 and 2009.

So, in conclusion, that's why I have not been posting as much as I'd like -Google Chrome and Adobe laying a minefield for me every time I turn the computer on- so some of my next few posts, those unfrozen drafts, may seem a day or two -or three weeks- old.
To me.

But they'll be new to you.

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A Web Developer Speaks: Flash Player is Dead. HTML5 isn't ready. Long live AIR!
By Jason Perlow | November 11, 2011, 10:14am PST


Mobile Flash: So long and thanks for all the crash.
By Ken Hess | November 9, 2011, 3:05pm PST

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome/thread?tid=2974f4989350aa38&hl=en