Gov. Scott: Nursing homes must follow new emergency guidelines FIGHTING

Following the deaths of eight people at a Florida rehab center, Gov. Rick Scott ordered all assisted living facilities and nursing homes to have a generator and fuel to sustain operations for at least 96 hours following a power outage.

“This is based on standards already in place at all hospitals in Florida,” Gov. Scott said in a recent news release announcing an emergency action to force ALF and nursing homes to have generators in place in the next 60 days.

“During emergencies, health care facilities must be fully prepared to ensure the health, safety and well-being of those in their care, and there is absolutely no excuse not to protect life.”

Failure to comply will result in penalties, including fines up to $1,000 per day and the possible revocation of a facility’s license, he said.

The mandate includes inspections of generators within 15 days of installation at facilities and requires local emergency management officials to either approve or deny the emergency management plans — already required by law from residential health care facilities — to ensure it sufficiently protects life.

Each local emergency management agency must post all approved facility emergency management plans to its website within 10 days. Facilities must submit proof of ?compliance with the emergency rules to AHCA and Elder Affairs within ?48 hours of each plan’s approval.

Jacobson ?overcame problems

During Hurricane Irma, the Douglas T. Jacobson Veterans Nursing Home in Port Charlotte lost power for a couple of days. They switched to their generator, inspected in May, which had a broken part.

“We nursed it until the part was replaced,” said administrator Liz Barton. “We never lost power as the generator never stopped working. We were able to power up fans and keep the air running for our residents.

“We had 372 people here including 120 veterans, 200 staffers, 47 dogs, 17 cats, two birds and fish. During that time we served 1,160 meals. We didn’t have any staffing issues, no weapons or weirdness. This is my fifth hurricane. We were good.”

Barton said one of the key elements was allowing staff to bring family members and pets at the facility, which was built in 2004.

“We have a Team A and Team B shift of employees,” she said. “We rotated out the staff so they wouldn’t be exhausted, and they performed so well under such stress of such a big hurricane.”

Steve Murray, communications director and emergency coordination officer for all seven of the state-run veterans nursing homes, called Barton a “pro” who worked at the facility in 2004 when Hurricane Charley hit Charlotte County as a category 5 storm.

“People around the state call Liz when they need advice on hurricane and crisis management,” he said. “She’s one of the most experienced administrators in our staff. When the power went out, they used the generator for the residents. That meant that some places like the payroll office didn’t have air, but all of the residents did.”

Must have a plan

Sarasota County Emergency Manager Ed McCrane said nursing facilities and ALFs must have an emergency and evacuation plan in place.

“They are not allowed to just dump their people off at shelters and leave,” he said. “The staff must have an emergency plan including relocating their residents if they have to evacuate. They should have a sister facility they can work with in another area to go to and not necessarily a shelter.”

Barton said if needed, the local veterans at the home could have evacuated to one of the other six statewide facilities. There’s also availability for a second generator if needed.

Built two years ago, the Springs at South Biscayne in North Port is another living community which already meets the governor’s requirement.

“Before the hurricane came, we opened a call center for families and friends of residents at Springs at South Biscayne,” said Bill Bambrick, director of sales. “We also kept giving updates on social media. It helped prevent a lot of calls during the hurricane.

“We also have hurricane glass built in at our facility. During the storm, our residents didn’t hear the howling winds and pounding rain. It allowed for calm. We also have a generator. We could have also relocated our residents to sister facilities in Florida and Alabama.”

Banbrick said the staff was also allowed to have their family come join them at the shelter which helped run it smoothly the entire hurricane.

Other plans

In Rotonda, Brookdale Senior Living has an emergency plan in place.

“We share the governor’s concerns and we are actively working with our industry partners and generator suppliers to address the new requirements,” said Brookdale spokesperson Heather Hunter.

“Although implementation of the new rules is still being clarified, our teams are actively working on our emergency plans and generator capabilities to meet any revised guidelines.

“There is a strong possibility that the generator supply may not meet the new demand for the entire state. We are confident that working together with our local, state and private sector partners, we will come up with a positive solution that is in the best interest of our residents and the families that trust us to take care of their loved ones.”

Quality Health Care in North Port, which is the longest open facility in town, didn’t want to discuss its emergency plan or generator.

“We are in compliance with the state, but have been caught off-guard with this issue,” said Lori King, administrator Tuesday.

The governor said any health care provider who knows patients are in danger must call 911 and report it.

“Our state agencies, community partners and health care associations are also working together to shift resources in real-time to and from facilities with power to those without as power restoration continues,” Scott said of the recover efforts after Hurricane Irma.

“However, we must ?absolutely make sure there are laws in place to keep all vulnerable Floridians safe. I will stop at nothing to protect Floridians.”

Scott also announced that he will aggressively fight for legislation to put this requirement into law in the 2018 legislative session.

Email: eallen@sun-herald.com

“They are not allowed to just dump their people off at shelters and leave.”

— Ed McCrane, ?Sarasota County Emergency Manager