| RIPTIDE | ▼ DORAL CHRISTMAS CANCELED? N SANTA’S ENCHANTED FOREST IMPERILED BY PERMIT SNAFUS. BY ALEX DELUCA o matter how hard they may try, many Miami residents can’t imagine a holiday season without Santa’s Enchanted Forest. With its familiar twinkling lights, old-school attractions, and cheesy Santa Claus photo ops, the seasonal event draws massive crowds on a yearly basis. As its opening date fast approaches, the “ALL THE ADVERTISING IS BEING PLACED, AND SOON WE’LL BE KICKING OFF JUST LIKE NORMAL.” event has been left in limbo thanks to a slew of code violations courtesy of Miami-Dade County. In recent weeks, it appeared as if tiny tots across South Florida, with their eyes all aglow in hopes of making their annual trip to the Enchanted For- est, might be met with a proverbial lump of coal. On October 4, the event’s organizers were issued a cease- and-desist order by the Miami-Dade Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (attached at the bottom of this story). The department insists it’s not being a Grinch: according to county spokesperson Tere Florin, the event organizers had failed to comply with 27 citations and a previous stop-work order issued for starting construction at the event site without the required permits. GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS ▼ KENDALL TMI HCA HOSPITAL STAFF SHARED UNAUTHORIZED PHOTOS OF A DYING PATIENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN W hile trying to cope with his 18-year- old son’s death, Jose Lopez was in- formed by HCA Florida Kendall Hospital that an emergency room worker had posted a photo on social media of the teenager in the operating room a few weeks before he passed away. The hospital worker posted the unauthorized photo of Lopez’s son on Instagram on May 28, shortly after the young man was airlifted to the emergency room for treatment of his injuries in a motorcycle accident. The employee posted the photo with emoji symbols and tagged a co- worker in the post, Lopez says. The father is now suing HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami-Dade County court on counts Photo by Karli Evans While organizers are still working to secure the permits, Santa’s Enchanted Forest spokes- person Maritza Gutierrez says these hiccups won’t disrupt the holiday spirit — and the event will proceed as planned next month. “All the advertising is being placed, and soon we’ll be kicking off just like normal,” Gutierrez tells New Times. After leaving its longtime home at Tropical Park in 2020, and following a brief move to Hialeah Park in 2021, Santa’s Enchanted For- est relocated to a spot at the border of Medley and Doral this year. The new site is reportedly owned by the wealthy Dunn family, who hold large swaths of land in the Miami area. Because the property is situated at an awkward location at the intersection of soon- to-be annexed areas in Medley and Doral, event organizers thought they only needed to apply for permits with the City of Medley, of medical privacy violations, negligence, and in- fliction of emotional distress. “[The] public display of horrific images has caused and will continue to cause immeasurable profound grief,” the lawsuit states. “The grotesque conduct is shocking to the conscience.” Lopez’s son, Jose Lopez Canizares, was struck by a vehicle in Kendall Lakes while riding his motorcycle near SW 137th Avenue and SW 56th Street. The vehicle’s driver had allegedly run a red light. The 18-year-old was airlifted to the hospital but never regained consciousness. He passed away on June 22. A hospital privacy official informed Lopez about the social media post the day his son was taken off life support, according to the com- plaint. In an apology letter, the hospital ac- knowledged that the employee had impinged on Lopez’s son’s medical privacy. The letter noted that the posted picture had been re- moved from the employee’s social media and Santa’s Enchanted Forest is a Miami Christmas institution. Gutierrez says. As it turned out, they needed to apply with the county as well, she says. Florin says Santa’s Enchanted Forest is working with county staff to bring the prop- erty into compliance “as quickly as possible” in time for the event on November 9. The Department of Regulatory and Eco- nomic Resources, which handles building, development, and consumer protection, has advised organizers on what needs to be to done to address their improper storage of re- claimed asphalt and submit a stormwater management plan. Among the conditions for compliance, the Enchanted Forest organizers had to cough up roughly $20,000 for the citations before any permits would be issued. (Florin says they paid it earlier this week.) that the hospital was retraining its staff on pa- tient privacy matters. “We have addressed the situation and are THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME A MIAMI HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE HAS ALLEGEDLY SHARED AN UNAUTHORIZED PHOTO OF A PATIENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. taking steps to prevent such incidents from hap- pening in the fu- ture,” reads the letter, which is in- cluded in the court file. The hospital at first did not provide Lopez with the photo in question, which the lawsuit alleges “only fur- ther served to com- pound [Lopez’s] grief and stress.” He eventually received two images: the one referenced in the letter and another picture on a different hospital worker’s Instagram profile, which depicted his son being transported to the hospital by helicopter. While Gutierrez says the event operators immediately “hit the brakes” on work at the property and applied for permits with the county, they were still fined $13,000 for put- ting up displays and a chain-link fence. “They got a fine, which they’re taking care of,” Gutierrez says, “and they’re now working with the county for the permitting.” Florin says that Santa’s Enchanted Forest is currently allowed to do some work on the site –– including installing holiday decora- tions, string lights, and temporary fencing for the holiday displays. However, she notes that “without proper environmental remedia- tion,” the event won’t be able to proceed. The event is scheduled to run from No- vember 9 to January 8, 2023, according to its website. “HCA Florida Kendall Hospital facilitated the actions of the posting of these images on social media by either nonexistent or inadequate or insufficient training,” the lawsuit alleges. The complaint adds: “Given the ‘viral nature’ of the internet, it is not known how long the im- ages were displayed, and whether the images were circulated or disseminated by other Insta- gram users to their pages.” The hospital did not return New Times’ re- quest for comment. This isn’t the first time a Miami hospital em- ployee has allegedly shared an unauthorized photo of a patient on social media. A neonatal intensive care nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospi- tal was fired last year after she was accused of posting a photo of a baby with a birth defect on social media. The post showed the baby suffer- ing from gastroschisis, a medical condition where the intestines are exposed. [email protected] 33 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | miaminewtimes.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | MIAMI NEW TIMES NEW TIMES MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 NOVEMBER 3-9, 2022
