Woman accused of running unlicensed recovery house speaks out after second arrest

A woman arrested for the second time, accused of operating an unlicensed recovery house for people who had cosmetic surgery, is now speaking out in an exclusive interview with NBC6 Investigates. 

Monica Garcia sat down with NBC6 inside the recovery home on SW 76th Court she said she ran until recently. 

The interview, which took place just one week after her arrest, provided the first look inside the property, a business called Oasis Retreat Miami. Garcia, who runs the business, was arrested in connection to another property along with her daughter Laura Garcia, who is listed as the owner of Oasis. 

“The only thing is we don't have a license,” Garcia said, “And they say that that's illegal because we don't have a license, but we don't kill nobody.”

Miami-Dade Corrections

Miami-Dade Corrections

The mother and daughter are accused of operating an unlicensed recovery house at another home on SW 143 Court and SW 24th Street in January. NBC6 was there as investigators with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at that home for the second time.

Two years earlier, Garcia was arrested for the same crime at that same location. 

When asked, Garcia told NBC6 the property does not have the required license. 

“That's correct,” she said, “It's not licensed.” 

But Garcia explained, unlike the previous case, which ended with her completing a pre-trial diversion program, this time she was operating Oasis with a provisional assisted living facility license, but due to a plumbing emergency, had to relocate the women staying there to another ALF. Then, she says that facility started having electrical issues.  

“I don't have any other solution, than to send the ladies right there,” she said, referring to the unlicensed recovery house, adding her staff takes good care of patients. 

With so many people traveling to South Florida for outpatient cosmetic procedures, a great number find themselves in search of a place to recuperate. 

“The recovery is just as important as the actual procedure,” said Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Detective Angel Rodriguez when interviewed about Garcia’s case in late January, “And so it brings about a great risk to a lot of these people.” 

And most patients, according to Garcia, often arrive experiencing some complications from their surgeries. 

When asked what she would say to regulators who believe licensing, guidelines and inspections are necessary to keep people safe, Garcia said while she was not opposed to a licensing process.

“They need to work with us. They need to be our partners,” she said. “They need to be our friends, not our enemies.”

Current regulations require recovery houses to be licensed as assisted living facilities through Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration, or AHCA for short.  

“It’s pretty hard to get this license”, Garcia said. “We need a solution.”

Garcia believes they need their own designation due to the demand for this type of service.  

When asked, Garcia would not say how many recovery houses she has had operating at any point. 

She and her daughter are fighting their current charges.

“So, I’m worried even for me, for my daughter because it's her future,” she said.

With no change planned for state law, will Garcia continue to keep operating recovery houses?

“If the law doesn’t change it’s a hard question,” she responded. “But it's something that they (law enforcement) need to understand. Because if they arrest me, it don't mean that this would be stopped.”

According to AHCA, the provisional license was issued to Oasis when Laura Garcia applied for a change of ownership from the person who previously ran an ALF at that location. Ultimately, AHCA denied the application and did not issue a permanent license, citing several deficiencies during their inspections. Garcia disputed some of those deficiencies and said they want to appeal the decision.