Some nursing homes evacuate, others lack storm plans.

72 facilities along Florida coast have begun evacuations

As Hurricane Dorian moves slowly toward the coast of Florida, 151 nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state are still awaiting temporary generators that were supposed to be in place by July 1, and 37 have no generators ordered or emergency plans submitted.

Some nursing homes that had previously purchased generators said over the weekend, as a storm threatened, it was the first time state officials visited their facilities to check on whether their plans were feasible and generators worked. Two years ago, 12 elderly residents suffered heat-related deaths after Hurricane Irma knocked out the air conditioning in their Hollywood nursing home.

Monday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a news conference on Hurricane Dorian at the State Emergency Operations Center that 72 nursing homes along the coast have begun evacuating their residents to hotels and other locations.

“We are fully stocked with water, have our generators and our evacuation plan in place, a hotel booked if we need it and transportation arranged,” said Rita Collazo, office manager for Victoria Villa Assisted Living in Davie.

Collazo said the Agency for Health Care Administration complied with state requirements to submit its plan by July 1, but Saturday was the first time anyone visited to ensure the generators worked. Information on which facilities have permanent, temporary or no generators is available at flgenerator.com.

“After Hurricane Irma, no one checked on us until after people in that Hollywood nursing home died, and then everyone zoomed in to check on us,” Collazo said.

For senior facilities, generators can be the difference between life and death. Just last week, four health care workers were charged with aggravated manslaughter in connection with the deaths of 12 people at a stiflingly hot Hollywood nursing home in September 2017, after Hurricane Irma damaged the facility’s air-conditioning system. The arrests came after a two-year criminal investigation into the deaths at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.

While unusual, Hollywood Police Chief Chris O’Brien said the charges were merited because the four workers “didn’t do enough” to save the residents who died in the aftermath of the hurricane.

A news release from the governor’s office Monday said the state activated its Emergency Status System for health care facilities statewide to enter their storm preparedness status, including generators and utility company information, emergency contacts and bed availability, and made that information available online.

The release said the AHCA is conducting extensive outreach to facilities lacking generators or plans to ensure generators are being acquired or there are appropriate plans to evacuate in place.

“AHCA has confirmed that every [assisted living facility] and nursing home located in a coastal county along Florida’s East Coast from Palm Beach County north to Nassau County either has a generator on site or has plans to evacuate,” the release said.

“We are deploying staff to any facility in the coastal counties for which we do not have current updated information on their generator status.”

Over the weekend, Artis Senior Living evacuated 59 seniors and staff from its Boca Raton assisted living community east of Federal Highway to its Davie center, which had only 11 residents at the time. “It is a precaution, and we had the room and were able to accommodate them,” said Lili Leal, director of marketing for Artis Senior Living of Davie.

The governor’s office also said the Department of Elder Affairs continues efforts to assist elderly and disabled clients who are most at risk, including those with limited mobility, oxygen dependence or other accessibility challenges.

On Monday morning, DeSantis also announced some hospitals in Florida also have begun evacuating or making plans to evacuate. These include AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach, Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital, Port St. Lucie Hospital and Good Samaritan Medical Center West Palm Beach, Sebastian River Medical Center, Halifax Health Psychiatric Center in Volusia County. Martin North Hospital Cleveland Clinic will partially evacuate. DeSantis asked all medical and elder care facilities to notify state officials about their needs or evacuation plans.

U.S. Medical Equipment, a private company that rents medical equipment to hospitals recently built storage facilities in Florida for hurricane and storm needs. Company officials said U.S. Medical has moved about 500 medical devices, including infusion pumps, monitors, and ventilators, in to Southeast coast hospitals bracing for Hurricane Dorian’s impact.