The state has fined Opportunity Living in Lake City $10,000 after a resident died from cardiac arrest after choking on food while in their care. It was back on Nov. 27 when the 45-year-old resident with a severe intellectual disability was taken to the emergency room after he started choking on pieces of a fast-food cheeseburger his staff member was giving him while driving. The incident happened a day after his admission to Opportunity Living; before that, he lived six months at another facility. An inspector for the case discovered that the individual was on a restricted diet, requiring food to be cut into tiny pieces, finding out that workers at the previous facility provided training for Opportunity Living staff on his diet and mealtime procedures. During the investigation, inspectors confirmed with the director of community living at Opportunity Living that they had failed to obtain the assessments and individual program plan from his previous facility before approving his admission. Opportunity Living has since revised its admission process to include meetings with staff from previous facilities if residents are being transferred, requiring two workers inside vehicles, avoiding serving meals in cars, and retraining staff on first aid kits equipped in every company car. The facility had two separate cases in 2023, one for failing to follow established policies and procedures when transporting residents and for not reporting suspected abuse of a resident. In both of those cases, Opportunity Living was faced with fines.
