A pediatrician who examines children for abuse or neglect has accused a Florida medical regulator of leaving children ''at potential risk for . . . harm'' by botching an investigation into how a severely disabled foster child was burned at a Miami-Dade nursing home.

Miami-Dade police and three state agencies are investigating how the 12-year-old foster child was burned at the Florida Club Care Center nursing home at 220 Sierra Dr. in North Miami-Dade, which provides skilled care to both children and adults. Child welfare administrators say no one at the home has acknowledged hurting the girl.

The Child Protection Team, a group of University of Miami doctors and nurses who determine whether children have been maltreated, concluded the preteen girl, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot communicate, sustained second-degree burns to her hand and thigh.

But a separate investigator from the Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates nursing homes and hospitals, said in a report there was no evidence the girl had been burned, records obtained by The Miami Herald show.

In a Sept. 23 letter to Gov. Charlie Crist, Michael D. Strong, a pediatrician with the Child Protection Team, blasted the AHCA investigator, saying he was ''shocked by her . . . apparent lack of due diligence'' in the probe.

''We fear that the potential risk for further harm of the other residents in the nursing home facility is high and that little to nothing is being done in response,'' Strong wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Herald in a public records request.

Alan Abramowitz, the local administrator for the Department of Children & Families, which houses more than a dozen children at the home, said in an e-mail to DCF workers Wednesday that caseworkers will increase the number of their visits to children there ''until we can address Dr. Strong's'' concerns.

MONITOR

In addition, Abramowitz said, the nursing home has agreed to post a ''monitor'' at the children's nursing station daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. until the situation is resolved. ''They are working with us,'' Abramowitz added.

Sid Schiff, the nursing home's administrator, declined to discuss the case in detail, citing federal patient confidentiality laws, as well foster care privacy laws. ''This is a situation that is being investigated by the Agency for Health Care Administration and DCF,'' Schiff said Thursday. ''They have all the facts we have provided.'' The nursing home's license is held by Florida Club Care Center Operating Co., records show.

Fernando R. Senra, the healthcare agency's spokesman, declined to discuss the investigation, except to say AHCA is continuing to work with state ''sister'' agencies. ``We are sending this case to Florida Medical Quality Assurance Inc., our independent -- external -- review organization, for their review of the records and investigation.''

''The agency takes this complex case very seriously,'' Senra said. ``Our primary concern is the care and safety of residents in healthcare facilities and we are glad that the young lady is receiving the care she needs.''

POLICE INQUIRY

In addition to the three state agencies, Miami-Dade police also are looking into what happened at the nursing home, said Alvaro Zabaleta, a police spokesman. Police were referred to the case by DCF, Zabaleta said.

Though the DCF investigation into the girl's injuries remains open, Abramowitz said workers believe the girl was neglected, and not intentionally abused.

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