Lori Ann St. Thomas faces a maximum prison term of up to 30 years, but Broward Circuit Judge Tim Bailey allowed her to remain free on bond pending sentencing, which is set for next month.

Prosecutors said St. Thomas, 62, who was the principal of St. Coleman Catholic School from 2004 to 2024, improperly arranged for stipends on top of her salary starting in 2016 and ending when she left the school in 2025.

According to court records, someone reported St. Thomas to authorities in November 2024, accusing her of taking $238,196 in unauthorized payments from the school.

She allegedly received the extra unauthorized pay through direct deposit.

“Any extra pay would need to be authorized by the head father or superintendent,” the affidavit said. “No documentation of the authorization of the extra pay was ever found.”

Defense lawyer Tonja Haddad Coleman said she would “absolutely” appeal the verdict.

“We respect the jury’s hard work and the attention they paid to the case, but we are disappointed they did not see through the misrepresentations perpetrated by the archdiocese and rubber-stamped by the state attorney’s office,” she said. “It is our position that the evidence presented by the state at trial did not support that conviction.”

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.

With his outstanding “The Hard Line,” Mark Greaney’s trademark style — his intense plotting emphasizing fast-and-furious action that taps into the changing political environment — continues to reshape the espionage genre. It is the 15th installment in his popular “Gray Man” series.

While his novels are plot-heavy, the author doesn’t skimp on fully fleshed-out characters who match the action. Greaney puts his characters into nail-biting jeopardy, only to pull them out — sometimes — but in realistic ways.

The Gray Man is Courtland “Court” Gentry, a freelance assassin and, now, an ex-CIA agent. Court and his far-flung group of operatives are working out of a nondescript office park in Norfolk, Virginia, that they call the Ghost Town, run by a former CIA deputy director. They are an “off-the-books direct action team,” and boy, are they active. While their methods and results are not discreet, Court and his team take jobs the agency cannot publicly do.

That’s both difficult and oddly simple for Court, whose shadowy existence is so undercover that many doubt the Gray Man exists. Woe to them. Greaney has shaped Court as a kind of superman, able to get out of seemingly impossible danger. Yet, Greaney makes each escape believable in its own way. This dichotomy moves this series, and is a major aspect of “The Hard Line.”

While Court is an admitted nomad, he believes in family, the one you’re related to by blood and the one you’re connected to by the blood you spill together. This sense of family infuses various undertakings in “The Hard Line,” which begins with a father trying to avenge his estranged son’s death, leading to a son wanting justice for his father.

In between, Court follows the threats aimed at security experts and intelligence operatives across the globe. For some, the most danger erupts in their own neighborhoods. Of course, complicated government conspiracies, betrayals and high-tech weaponry abound.

Longtime readers of Greaney know not to shy away from his lengthy novels, which generally run around 500 pages. The crisp writing moves the story at nearly head-spinning pace. The list of characters with brief descriptions at the beginning isn’t just helpful, it’s necessary.

The explosive “The Hard Line” delivers a breathless energy from the first sentence to the last, continuing Greaney’s string of hard-charging, involving thrillers.

Meet the author

Mark Greaney will discuss “The Hard Line” in conversation with Oline H. Cogdill at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in support of the Rubel Family Mystery Collection at the Pompano Beach Branch Library, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. The discussion will be in person at the library and broadcast later on the library’s YouTube channel (YouTube.com/browardcountylibrary). Books will be available for sale, with 10% of proceeds from book sales benefiting the Pompano Beach Friends of the Library. The event is free, but registration is required. Visit broward.libnet.info or call 954-357-7643.

James Grippando’s novels about Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck offer a compelling meld of Florida’s legal system and contemporary issues, with domestic drama and the value of friendship added.

Grippando’s 20th Swyteck novel, “The Right To Remain” upholds his high standards, with a look at an issue many people may not be aware of — companies hired by police agencies to dispose of firearms. It is a nail-biting, suspenseful legal thriller.

Jack’s latest client, Elliott Stafford, is not what he was expecting, nor is the case as simple as it first appears. Elliott is accused of murdering retired FBI agent Owen Pollard, who was a partner in VanPoll firearms disposal. Owen’s death initially was ruled a suicide; his body was found in his kitchen by his wife, Helena. But Elliott, a member of VanPoll’s finance team, becomes a suspect after he is subpoenaed by a grand jury. The case begins with murky motives. Owen had a volatile marriage, as he and Helena often argued over the rearing of their 6-year-old son. Owen also didn’t get along with business partner C.J. Vandermeer, who is eccentric with a violent streak.

Defending Elliott becomes a challenge. He goes on a “speech strike,” refusing to talk to Jack or assist in any way with his defense. Elliott’s past and his link with the Pollards add to the labyrinth plot.

“The Right To Remain” moves at a brisk pace, as Grippando delves into the ethics of weapons disposal, gin trafficking, scams targeting couples desperate to adopt a child, and family relationships and identity. Jack and his wife, Andie, are a strong couple but wrestle with raising a bright daughter and maneuvering their big careers. Jack’s work as a criminal defense lawyer and Andie’s position as an FBI agent mandate they keep secrets from each other so as not to compromise their cases.

As usual, Grippando uses Miami as more than a background, showing readers the heat, history and demands of life in South Florida. Grippando, who lives in Coral Gables and himself is a lawyer, takes readers by the hand, leading them into the courtroom to show how the legal system works, or sometimes doesn’t, and the rivalry among lawyers.

Grippando keeps the plot of “The Right To Remain” as fresh as when he began this series with “The Pardon” in 1994.

Meet the author

James Grippando will discuss “The Right to Remain” in conversation with Oline H. Cogdill at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, in the Rubel Mystery Collection at the Pompano Beach Branch Library, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd.; 954-357-7643. The event is free, but registration is required at broward.libnet.info. Books will be available for sale, with 10% of proceeds donated to the Pompano Beach Friends of the Library.

Alex Benefield, of Deerfield Beach, had been involved in the dogfighting realm since 2014 and was recognized as one of the “top” in the region, according to a federal criminal complaint. The FBI raided Benefield’s home and the home of another prominent fighter and trainer Tramaine Marvin Randall, of Pompano Beach, about a year ago, finding over 40 caged dogs, many of them wounded. Both men were arrested on charges of running an animal fighting venture.

The FBI investigated Benefield and Randall through a confidential source who used to be involved in dogfighting more than a decade ago and had known both men for years, the criminal complaint said. The source met with Benefield at his home in Deerfield Beach in February 2023 where Benefield bragged about training animals for other well-known dogfighters and on another date showed a video of a dog killing and eating another animal in his yard.

At another meeting at Benefield’s home in December 2024, Benefield told the FBI source he had just participated in a fight in Broward County days earlier and withdrew the dog because it was getting too badly injured, the complaint said.

He pleaded guilty in September 2025 to two counts of possessing, training and receipt of a dog for use in an animal fighting venture as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

US government seeks ownership of over 40 pit bulls tied to Broward dogfighting ring

Several employees at Boyd Anderson, including the principal, submitted letters on his behalf prior to his sentencing in December, citing his mentorship of young people as a football coach and later an automotive instructor at the school.

School Board members approved the termination at Wednesday’s meeting.

A Broward Sheriff’s deputy was “battered” after a theft was reported at a business in the 300 block of West Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach, the Sheriff’s Office said. The suspect then drove away, leading deputies on a chase.

The chase continued east on Copans Road before reaching I-95, according to first responders’ radio communications archived by the site Broadcastify.

The pursuit ended on southbound I-95 just north of Atlantic Boulevard, where the suspect was detained and taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

The suspect was identified as Avonta Bailey, 37, said spokesperson Claudinne Caro.

Less than a minute after the crash was communicated over radio, deputies had the suspect in custody, according to Broadcastify archives. It was unclear how many cars were involved in the crash.

Multiple deputies were injured while trying to detain the suspect, said BSO spokesperson Veda Coleman-Wright. All deputies’ injures were minor and none needed to be taken to a hospital.

Bailey had not been booked into the jail as of Friday evening. Caro said he will face charges of retail theft, resisting with and without violence, fleeing and eluding, aggravated fleeing, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery on a law enforcement officer.

Bailey was released from state prison in April 2025 after serving a 6-year sentence on charges in Broward County including robbery without a deadly weapon, petit theft, aggravated fleeing and eluding and resisting an officer with violence, state Department of Corrections records show.

The southbound interstate lanes in the area reopened about 4:30 p.m.

Sun Sentinel writer Kathy Laskowski contributed to this report. 

In an announcement this week, the review website gave props to:

Broward County

• Larb Thai-Isan in Fort Lauderdale, a Northeastern Thai staple (No. 42)
• Revelry in Pompano Beach, a gastropub and burlesque lounge (No. 64)
• Rosalia’s Kitchen in Miramar, a Mediterranean-Italian restaurant (No. 72)

Miami-Dade County

• COTE Miami, a Korean barbecue house (No. 20)

No Palm Beach County restaurant made the “Top 100” list.

In this edition, we’ll spare you our now-annual refrain about Yelp’s ranking system (like why a restaurant with a 4.5 rating charts higher than one with a 4.7), and stop asking why eateries that rank No. 3 in the whole country one year (as Archibalds Village Bakery in Fort Lauderdale did in 2023) magically fall off the list the next. Yelp will stay influential as long as people trust its algorithms and believe its rankings mean the same as a restaurant’s overall reputation, online and off.

So let’s move on, with one caveat: Yelp, for its part, says it ranked its 2026 list “using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews.”

Highest on the list in Broward is Larb Thai-Isan (No. 42; 4.7 rating with 1,000 reviews). It’s a repeat Top 100er (it ranked No. 11 in 2023) and a now Michelin-recommended Northeastern Thai eatery dishing savory larb, lemongrass Tom Kha Gai soup and spicy massaman curry out of an open kitchen in a strip mall in Fort Lauderdale’s Imperial Point neighborhood.

One Yelp reviewer raved that its khao soi soup with beef and crispy duck curry was “bursting with bold and authentic flavors,” concluding that the restaurant serves “hands-down the best Thai food we’ve ever had, and we’ve had a lot of Thai food.”

At No. 64 is Revelry (4.7 rating with 225 reviews), a shamelessly nerdy lounge near Federal Highway and Atlantic Boulevard that owners Zena Tarantino and Brando Garcia have described as “inspired by your crazy aunt’s living room,” marrying eclectic mismatched furniture, 1980s movie screenings on VHS, weekend burlesque brunch and the joyful noise of local bands.

While some Yelpers dug the pub-style burgers, chicken sandwiches and smoked gouda grilled cheese, one commenter shouted out its “delicious… mahi sandwich with the Buffalo truffle cauliflower.”

And then there’s Rosalia’s Kitchen in Miramar at No. 72 (4.5 rating with 880 reviews), which arguably goes through as many costume changes in a year as Beyoncé does in one concert. Co-owner Rafael Brazon-Di Fatta brands the Mediterranean-Italian spot a “themed restaurant,” morphing into Christmas wonderlands, Halloween haunts and mermaid kingdoms every month or so.

It’s an idea that started, as some great ideas do, with an entry-level 3-D printer. Brazon-Di Fatta, whose day job is in tech, began 3-D printing whimsical drinkware and table decor in his spare time — a genie lamp with dry-ice smoke billowing out, dragon-shaped cocktail goblets, sea critters on the ceiling — to pair with seasonal drinks and Rosalia’s menu of sandwiches, salads, pastas and Roman-style pinsas.

The result is a neighborhood place that’s “friendly and welcoming,” according to one Yelper, who added that “the food was good, and we really appreciated the creativity and charm of the décor.”

“We found this happy medium between crazy-kitschy decorations while also keeping the heritage of my family’s recipes and traditional flavors,” Brazon-Di Fatta told the Sun Sentinel in November. “We renew ourselves every few months to have fun and to stay competitive in this crazy restaurant market in South Florida.”

In Miami-Dade, meanwhile, Korean barbecue spot COTE Miami ranked highest on the list at No. 20.

For the full “Top 100 Places to Eat” in the U.S. 2026 restaurant rankings, go to Yelp.com/article.

Staff writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or Twitter/X @philvalys.

Award-winning author Con Lehane melds a solid private detective novel with a satisfying historical look at the communist witch hunt during the McCarthy era of the early 1950s in “The Red Scare Murders.”

In this launch of a new series, Lehane tackles conspiracy theories, racism, power-mad politicians and how families and careers were ruined through blacklisting, while also depicting the intricacies of New York City during this time.

“The Red Scare Murders” introduces Mick Mulligan, a World War II veteran who has reinvented himself as a private detective in New York City. Not long ago, Mick had a successful career as an animator working for a Hollywood studio, with a good salary and a loving family. But he lost his job, family and security when he was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee for refusing to name colleagues in the entertainment business who might be communists.

Now scraping by with small, simple jobs, Mick is offered a more lucrative but complicated case by labor leader Duke Rogowski, “a lunch-box sort of guy.” Mick worries he lacks the skills to tackle the high stakes involved. He has 15 days to prove the innocence of Harold Williams, a Black cab driver — and member of the Communist party — who is scheduled to be executed for the murder of his wealthy white boss, the owner of the taxi company. Mick is overwhelmed that a man’s life depends on him. Given the times’ racial attitudes and view of communists, Harold still could be executed even if Mick proves him innocent.

And there is a chance Harold is guilty. Mick finds Harold has many friends who believe him innocent but are afraid to speak up, and just as many people who are fixated on Harold’s race and membership in the Communist party.

The timeworn plot device of trying to prove a convicted person innocent gets an energetic approach by grounding the story in politics and history. Lehane adds racial prejudice, politics, the labor movement and the fear of a cab driver strike. Lehane taps into the paranoia of the 1950s with aplomb, with meticulous research into the McCarthy era. He infuses “The Red Scare Murders” with real people, but these occasional references don’t distract from the plot — they put the story in context.

New York City becomes a character in its own right, as Lehane takes the reader by the hand through neighborhood walks. Lehane shows buildings that are now part of the landscape being built, empty lots ready for plans.

Mick is a sturdy character, well-suited for this launch of a new series. Mick is coming to terms with what he has lost and how his moral code won’t allow him to turn in communists to save his career. He knows the authorities don’t care if the people are members of the Communist party, or not, just as long as they have names. It’s a pleasure watching Mick hone his investigative skills and grow confidence. He considers a private detective to be “the finder of lost souls.”

This marks the start of Lehane’s third series, following his previous collections featuring New York City bartender Brian McNulty and the 42nd Street Library.

“The Red Scare Murders” soars as a solid historical novel with relevance to today’s current events.

Meet the author

Con Lehane will discuss “The Red Scare Murders” in conversation with Oline H. Cogdill at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, in the Rubel Mystery Collection at the Pompano Beach Branch Library, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd.; 954-357-7643. The event is free. Books will be available for sale, with 10% of proceeds donated to the Pompano Beach Friends of the Library. Registration is required at broward.libnet.info.

Sgt. Scott Nida, 54, was booked into the Broward Main Jail on one count of false imprisonment, one count of domestic battery by strangulation and one count of touch or strike battery, the Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release Thursday. Nida has been with BSO for nearly 21 years.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, deputies were called to Nida’s home in Pompano Beach after he and the woman had been in an argument and physical fight, according to a probable cause affidavit. The South Florida Sun Sentinel is not identifying the woman because she is an alleged victim of domestic violence.

The woman told detectives she and Nida had been arguing for the last several days after she saw another woman inside Nida’s home and her car parked outside on Monday, the affidavit said. On Wednesday evening, the woman went to Nida’s home and the two began arguing again.

Outside the home, Nida grabbed her arm as the woman tried to leave during their argument. She picked up a rock to use in self-defense and began yelling, and Nida “grabbed the right side of her face and her neck with one hand.” The woman tried to scream louder, and Nida “began to strangle” her using both of his hands, the affidavit said.

The woman told detectives she could not breathe and felt she would lose consciousness. As Nida choked her, he pushed her onto the yard and dragged her across the ground, according to the affidavit. She was able to break free from his grip at some point and ran toward her car to get away, but Nida followed her and pushed her into the car’s passenger seat.

Nida then started to drive the woman’s car as she screamed to be let out, the affidavit said. She tried to open the car door while it was in motion but the car’s momentum caused it to shut again.

Eventually, the woman agreed to stay in the car and talk with Nida, which she told detectives she did out of fear, according to the affidavit. She looked in the mirror inside the car and saw her face was bleeding.

Nida apologized to her in the car after seeing her injuries, the affidavit says. He agreed to let her leave after the woman told her she needed to meet with someone whose name is redacted in the affidavit.

The woman and Nida went back to his home, and she went into the bathroom and took photos of her injuries and sent them to the person whose name is redacted, according to the affidavit. The person called 911.

When she came out of the bathroom, Nida gave her a change of clothes because her shirt had blood on it. He cleaned the woman’s face and told her to apply makeup to cover her injuries, the affidavit said. She left and drove to her own home.

Deputies noticed marks in the grass outside Nida’s home where the woman said she dug her heels into the ground to try to resist being dragged, according to the affidavit. Her feet were red and bruised, her face and neck were scratched and bruises that appeared to be finger imprints were visible on her neck, the affidavit says.

Nida requested an attorney during an interview with detectives. Attorney information was not available Thursday.

Nida remained in the Main Jail on Thursday afternoon. He was hired by the Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 18, 2005, and has been placed on administrative investigative leave without pay.

In multiple 911 calls released Wednesday by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, witnesses described numerous people trying to remove the teens from a mangled 2014 white BMW M5 after the car hit a median in the 1600 block of North Federal Highway and lost control. The BMW smashed into a 2024 Acura Integra with two women and a 5-year-old child inside, then slid across the road and crashed into a bus stop, a light pole and a tree.

Richard Manuel Alcocer, 18, who was the driver of the BMW, and his two passengers Miguel Montez, 16, and Ruben Baltazar, 15, were extricated by first responders and pronounced dead at Broward Health North on Monday evening, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The boys were students at Blanche Ely High School. Relatives told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the three were more like family than friends because they were so close.

One man who called 911 pleaded for first responders to rush to the scene. Within a minute of the crash, he could be heard shouting to someone at the scene, asking if they were OK, then immediately yelled, “Oh my god! Oh my god!”

“Ma’am, it is bad,” he told the dispatcher.

He and at least one other witness could be heard on the line when they approached the car and saw the three teens inside.

“Don’t touch him. Don’t touch him,” the man told another witness.

3 teens killed in Pompano Beach crash were inseparable, family members say

Two women who were inside the Acura and another witness in a separate car described the white BMW speeding through a red light and then flipping. One of the women inside the Acura told a dispatcher her 5-year-old child was also with them. They were not injured.

“They were coming super fast … There’s a bunch of people trying to help them out of the car,” one of the women said. “It’s a really bad car accident. Extremely bad.”

The Acura was making a right turn out of a shopping plaza at Northeast 18th Street to travel south on North Federal Highway just before impact, the Sheriff’s Office said. The resulting damage appeared to indicate a “sideswipe-type impact” on the front driver’s side of the Acura.

“Detectives said the preliminary investigation reveals that excessive speed by the driver of the BMW is a possible contributing factor in the crash,” the Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

Florida Blue and Broward County’s two public health systems, both under the same CEO, still lack a new contract. The months-long impasse between Florida Blue and Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System has affected as many as 40,000 policyholders who must deal with higher out-of-pocket costs, a disruption in their doctor relationships, and finding ongoing treatment for non-emergency care. Earlier communication from the parties indicated new contracts might be completed by year’s end, but that hasn’t happened.

“We are having ongoing and productive discussions with the leadership teams from Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System,” Florida Blue spokesperson Jorge Martinez said Tuesday.

In addition, unless Florida Blue reaches an agreement with Cleveland Clinic Weston by March, notices will go out to policyholders informing them that the hospital will be out of network as well, meaning they will not be covered for non-emergency services. For now, Florida Blue members can continue scheduling appointments and receiving care as usual at the Weston hospital.

The inability to negotiate a contract, however, would put Florida Blue policyholders at a significant disadvantage when choosing care. Open enrollment for employer-sponsored health plans has now closed for most companies, forcing them to decide whether to continue with Florida Blue and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Martinez said it’s too soon to know if and how contract disputes affected enrollment choices. Broward’s public health systems have suffered, too, with patients delaying care or finding new providers.

In Palm Beach County, Cigna policyholders received good news Wednesday when an eleventh-hour deal allowed them to stay in network at their major hospitals.

Tenet’s Palm Beach Health Network, which operates six major hospitals, was about to go out-of-network with Cigna on Wednesday. However, a Tenet spokesperson said the parties reached an agreement that will allow 1.3 million Florida Cigna policyholders and 13,000 Palm Beach County residents to be covered at its hospitals. Those hospitals are Delray Medical Center,  Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Children’s Hospital in West Palm Beach. Tenet also operates Florida Coast Medical Center in Port St. Lucie.

Non-renewal of Cigna’s contract would have put the county’s only children’s hospital out of network, just as Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital has gone out of network for Florida Blue policyholders in Broward County.

Cigna’s standoff with Tenet’s Palm Beach Health Network was part of a national contract dispute with Tenet Healthcare facilities and services nationwide, which the two health giants resolved on Wednesday.

Patients are increasingly caught in disputes as health insurers and providers disagree on contract terms and the two parties urge each other to stop disrupting medical treatment.

On Wednesday,  Cigna spokesperson Madeline Ziomek said, “An agreement has been reached with Tenet-owned Palm Beach Health Network, their physicians, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to continue providing in-network health care with no interruption in coverage for our customers. Together we will continue improving the health and vitality of the people we both serve in this community through access to affordable care.”

The heated negotiations between the insurer and healthcare company may represent the trend ahead and the role AI will play.

Tenet had set up a website for patients to demand that Cigna relent and said that Cigna would not guarantee that a physician, not a computer algorithm, makes decisions about patient care.

“Tenet Healthcare has been negotiating in good faith to keep in-network access to hospitals and providers at the Palm Beach Health Network for our patients,” Andrew Lofholm, Communications and Community Relations Manager with Palm Beach Health Network, had said.  “If Cigna ends its contract by December 31, 1.33 million Floridians could lose affordable access to both of the county’s Level I trauma centers and the only children’s hospital in the region. Because Cigna refuses to agree to reasonable terms to guarantee that a doctor, not a computer algorithm or AI, will make meaningful decisions about our patients’ care, families will be faced with paying thousands more or leaving the doctors and hospitals they’ve relied on for years.”

The standoffs over financial terms and reimbursement rates are also infuriating Broward patients, who at one point were told by Memorial and Broward Health they couldn’t make appointments as Florida Blue policyholders, even if they wanted to self-pay. On Tuesday, Broward Health and Memorial said they would accept Florida Blue patients who want to self-pay to continue seeing their doctors.

“We welcome any Florida Blue policyholders to continue their care with Broward Health providers,” said Broward Health Vice President of Communications Jennifer Smith. “Patients would need to self-pay or get a single-case agreement from Florida Blue. ”

The law requires hospitals to provide emergency care to patients regardless of whether they are in network.

“Anyone who arrives at our emergency departments will be treated regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay,” Smith said. “If admission is required, we notify the payor, and they decide whether to authorize admission or start transfer to an in-network hospital. But ultimately, it is the patient’s choice where they are treated.”

South Florida patients are upset that they are caught in the conflict between provider and insurer.

“My husband and I have complex medical histories,” Rev. Corrie Montoya of Davie wrote in a letter to the Sun Sentinel. “We have Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance through my employer. Most of our physicians are with Broward Health. We now must find a new primary care doctor and at least eight new specialists. It’s frustrating to have to start over. I can push through, but what I can’t abide is Florida Blue putting my child and all Broward children at risk.”

The breakdown in contract negotiations between health providers and health insurers put South Florida residents like Bob and Gayle Pifer in the position of losing access to doctors they have come to rely on over many decades.

Bob Pifer has been calling and writing Memorial Healthcare and Florida Blue, seeking answers to whether they can continue to see their doctors, and when the contract dispute will be resolved. The couple live in Pembroke Pines and all hospitals nearby, south of Interstate 595, are operated by Memorial. Both see various specialists at Memorial and Gayle Pifer is undergoing cancer treatment. The Pifers said they have been Blue Cross Blue Shield policyholders for more than 40 years, but can’t afford to keep seeing the same doctors.

“We live eight minutes from Memorial West. If we keep going, we could be stuck for the whole bill,” Bob Pifer told the Sun Sentinel. “In my wife’s case, the last infusion was very expensive.”

Plantation resident Andy Greenfield said he has been getting primary care at Memorial for over 30 years. “Because of this impasse, I will be forced to look elsewhere, even for ongoing conditions that Memorial physicians had treated. I don’t understand how so many hospitals can be out of network simultaneously for residents of Broward County.”

South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.