Brevard court has doctor shortage to help with guardian cases
Retirement puts Brevard in need
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Chief Judge John Harris of the 18th Circuit Court said that members of any family could find themselves in a situation requiring a court-appointed guardian for an older relative or an injured one. / ANDREW FORD/FLORIDA TODAY
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VIERA — The court needs more doctors who are willing to examine people in Brevard County, as a part of a process to appoint guardians, to see if they are able to make decisions on their own.
If someone is unable to make decisions, the court can authorize a guardian to do so on his or her behalf. But with an increasing caseload and the retirement of one of the two doctors typically called upon for the process, Brevard is in need, according to court spokeswoman Michelle Kennedy.
Chief Judge John Harris explained such a situation could impact any average family. Typically, it involves an elderly person dealing with issues of dementia, but it could also be someone who suffered a head injury. The court can then appoint a guardian to make that person’s financial or medical decisions. The process to appoint a guardian includes having a doctor make a report after examining the person — looking at medical records, talking to the patient, their primary physician and their family.
Hundreds of people every year require this sort of help from the court system — attorney William Johnson described one recent case where a woman in her 80s needed a guardian. She lives in Eau Gallie and she’s adamant about staying in the home her father built in the 1950s, but she began wandering away from home. Her son, who is in his 60s and has health issues of his own, was “at his wits end,” trying to care for her, Johnson said. Her home had been broken into, the police have been there about six times in the past month and strangers started drinking beer on her porch.
Johnson said the Department of Children and Families was called. They determined the situation was unsafe. A professional guardian assessed the woman and agreed with DCF. The son consented, agreeing that he could no longer be her caregiver, Johnson said.
A judge appointed Johnson to represent the woman. An emergency guardianship hearing was held Wednesday afternoon, and a guardian was put in place. The full panel examination will take about 60 days.
“It’s very important,” Johnson said of the guardianship process. “You know, because in a case like this, the system worked.”
Johnson said Brevard is the second oldest county per capita, behind Pinellas, and the population is getting older. The 18th Judicial Circuit serves Brevard and Seminole counties, but Seminole doesn’t have a shortage of doctors like Brevard does.
Judge Harris explained that serving on the panel is a service to the community rather than a money-making venture for the doctors.
“We can’t make a determination on incapacity without a report from the committee,” he said. “And we have to have a doctor on the committee. So, I don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have an MD willing to serve. It would be potentially tragic to a lot of people who are desperately in need of a guardian.”
If someone is unable to make decisions, the court can authorize a guardian to do so on his or her behalf. But with an increasing caseload and the retirement of one of the two doctors typically called upon for the process, Brevard is in need, according to court spokeswoman Michelle Kennedy.
Chief Judge John Harris explained such a situation could impact any average family. Typically, it involves an elderly person dealing with issues of dementia, but it could also be someone who suffered a head injury. The court can then appoint a guardian to make that person’s financial or medical decisions. The process to appoint a guardian includes having a doctor make a report after examining the person — looking at medical records, talking to the patient, their primary physician and their family.
Hundreds of people every year require this sort of help from the court system — attorney William Johnson described one recent case where a woman in her 80s needed a guardian. She lives in Eau Gallie and she’s adamant about staying in the home her father built in the 1950s, but she began wandering away from home. Her son, who is in his 60s and has health issues of his own, was “at his wits end,” trying to care for her, Johnson said. Her home had been broken into, the police have been there about six times in the past month and strangers started drinking beer on her porch.
Johnson said the Department of Children and Families was called. They determined the situation was unsafe. A professional guardian assessed the woman and agreed with DCF. The son consented, agreeing that he could no longer be her caregiver, Johnson said.
A judge appointed Johnson to represent the woman. An emergency guardianship hearing was held Wednesday afternoon, and a guardian was put in place. The full panel examination will take about 60 days.
“It’s very important,” Johnson said of the guardianship process. “You know, because in a case like this, the system worked.”
Johnson said Brevard is the second oldest county per capita, behind Pinellas, and the population is getting older. The 18th Judicial Circuit serves Brevard and Seminole counties, but Seminole doesn’t have a shortage of doctors like Brevard does.
Judge Harris explained that serving on the panel is a service to the community rather than a money-making venture for the doctors.
“We can’t make a determination on incapacity without a report from the committee,” he said. “And we have to have a doctor on the committee. So, I don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have an MD willing to serve. It would be potentially tragic to a lot of people who are desperately in need of a guardian.”
aford@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3601. Follow at Twitter.com/AndrewFordNews.
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