170 patients at Sunrise care home saved as city brought in generators
SUNRISE – On the same Wednesday that eight people died at a nursing home in Hollywood, patients at a Sunrise nursing home were also sweltering in a facility that lost power during Hurricane Irma.
But they got unexpected help — the city stepped in uninvited and brought two highpowered generators to the Sunrise Health and Rehabilitation Center. There were more than 170 patients in the building, many of them bed-ridden and in need of round-the-clock care.
“They called us angels in the night,” Fire Chief John McNamara said. “They were ecstatic that we showed up to give them air conditioning.”
State Rep. Katie Edwards said she saw a post on Facebook from a patient’s relative who was upset the facility had been without power for three days. She called the center several times but got no response, so she called the city manager and fire chief.
McNamara and one of his division chiefs stopped by to check on the nursing home at 4800 N. Nob Hill Road around 1 p.m. Wednesday. They found the generator was out of propane and was not powerful enough to run the building’s air conditioning.
Out of 24 nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Sunrise, it was the only one still without power three days after the storm hit, McNamara said.
He contacted Florida Power & Light Co. but said he could not get a clear answer on how long it might take to restore power to the 325-bed facility.
“As we sat there Wednesday, we were aware of the potential for the loss of life,” Mayor Mike Ryan said. “And we couldn’t take that chance.”
Sunrise fire officials brought the nursing home two generators Wednesday evening strong enough to run the AC. It took Sunrise utility crews five hours to get the generators hooked up to the building, McNamara said.
Federal and state guidelines require that nursing homes keep room temperatures between 71 and 81 degrees.
Doris Peterson, executive director at the Sunrise Health and Rehabilitation Center, said the temperature never got over 80 degrees. But the mayor and fire chief say it was well over that.
“When I got there it was 11 at night,” Ryan said. “I was sweating, our guys were sweating. It was damn hot in there.” McNamara said his crews did not take an official reading.
“The temps in the room were well above the 80 degree plus mark,” he said. “You didn’t need a thermometer to know that.”
Louis Perez, administrator at the nursing home, said none of the patients were in distress, but he was grateful the two generators were strong enough to get the AC going in every patient’s room.
Staffers had moved most of the patients to the hallways, where eight industrial fans kept the air moving, he said. Eight other large fans were placed in other sections of the facility.
“That was the icing on the cake when they came and got AC in the rooms,” Perez said.
Edwards says she is working on a bill that would require generators at all Florida nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes for special needs children.
“The Hollywood incident only magnified the problem,” she said. “If we don’t do this, the outcome is catastrophic.”
In a year’s time, Sunrise Health and Rehabilitation Center should have its own 600-kilowatt generator to power the entire building, including the AC, Perez said.