Police busted an unlicensed post-operative clinic Tuesday after reportedly finding improperly disposed medical waste outside of a Miami-Dade County, Florida, home.
Florida authorities arrested Traci Strader, 47, for allegedly running an illegal post-operative clinic through her home, WPLG reported. Investigating the facility, police found items “saturated with human fecal matter, blood and urine, thereby creating a credible and actual biological hazard to the well-being and health of the public,” police reportedly wrote. Officers charged Strader with 16 counts of running an assisted facility without a license, one felony charge of littering, one felony charge of hazardous waste violation and two health-related misdemeanors.
Strader left “substantial quantities” of medical waste illegally dumped in ordinary trash bags in normal, unsecured county trash bins outside her home, authorities told the outlet.
Strader registered her Miami, Florida, home as Elite Journey Wellness House LLC, according to the Florida Department of State business records. Its status is listed as inactive.
ARREST: Miami-Dade police say a trove of soiled, improperly-disposed adult diapers, bandages and more led them to bust an unlicensed post-operative surgery recovery house in the Goulds area Tuesday. The woman accused of running it faces 20 chrages. https://t.co/maRTcPow7n
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) February 9, 2023
Southern Florida has seen an uptick in unlicensed post-operative clinics as people swarm to South Florida seeking cosmetic surgeries, according to a separate WPLG report. The unregulated nature of some of these facilities brings additional risks to the people present there.
“I literally passed out maybe six or seven times within 24 hours, and no one said like, ‘hey, let’s get this girl to a hospital.’ Who knows, I probably would have bled out if I waited just one more day,” guest Crystal Beachum said, according to the local outlet.
Florida police arrested a 51-year-old woman in June after she allegedly ran an unlicensed post-operative facility out of a Miami hotel. Police charged the suspect, Jocelyn Ramos-Rivera, with 42 counts of operating an assisted living facility without a license, according to an arrest record obtained by NBC6.