Hurricane season arrived June 1, adding the potential for additional problems that Florida and other coastline nursing homes face along with the Coronavirus pandemic, such as failure to comply with laws requiring nursing homes and assisted living centers to have generators and comprehensive emergency plans. Those requirements came into place as the result of Hurricane Irma, an extremely powerful Category 5 hurricane that caused widespread, catastrophic damage when it made landfall in Florida in September 2017.
Twelve people in one nursing home died from heat-related illness due to a power outage lasting several days, and the facility’s lack of a back-up generator. Although three years have passed since the state’s generator law was enacted, investigations by news media indicate that several facilities do have not yet have generators, and nearly 200 facilities state-wide do not have approved emergency plans.
A representative from “Families for Better Care” — an agency advocating for residents in nursing homes — expressed serious concern about the number of non-compliant facilities, considering the challenges long-term care facilities already face in dealing with COVID-19. He said, “With the pandemic and all the infection control problems, this is going to spiral out even more for the facilities that aren’t prepared.” He also contends that facilities may need to review their approved emergency plans in light of the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, e.g., some facilities are still providing meals in communal dining rooms.
The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) reports that they have issued 390 non-compliance fines totaling over $168,000 against long-term care facilities.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Failure to comply with a state’s regulations regarding power back-up generators and updated emergency plans, and continued non-compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidelines for COVID-19, may place residents in facilities vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms in greater jeopardy for harm. This can be considered provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures regarding state requirements for back-up power generators and updated emergency plans, implementation of federal CMS and CDC COVID-19 guidelines, and protocols for emergency evacuation of residents testing positive for COVID-19.
- Train staff regarding protocols to prepare for and respond to a potential emergency evacuation of residents during the COVID-19 crisis.
- Ensure that the facility follows state generator and emergency plan requirements and that staff are competent to perform emergency evacuations of residents with COVID-19 that meet infection control guidelines.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC view: CMS – EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST and EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS FOR NURSING HOMES
