We must safeguard our seniors during a crisis

With more than 260 senior living facilities and 140 nursing homes in South Florida, we understand our collective obligation, as a community, to care for the elderly, the frail and the ones who need our help the most.

The tragic and preventable deaths at the Hollywood nursing home during Hurricane Irma must teach us valuable lessons. This is not an isolated problem. The City of Sunrise avoided a similar potential catastrophe when a facility with more than 160 non-ambulatory patients lost power and could not run air conditioning. Sunrise city and fire officials deployed generators from city operations and rewired the electrical panels. But, had there been another two or three facilities like this, it is not certain we could have helped. The message is not what Sunrise did or any city might be able to do. The message is no city should have to do what we did.

The devastating deaths in the Hollywood center could have been avoided. Following Hurricane Wilma, a decade ago, legislation was proposed requiring generators at these facilities. That legislative proposal died first. The long-term care industry was concerned about the dollars when they should have been far more concerned about the health and wellbeing of their residents.

After the deaths during Hurricane Irma, Gov. Rick Scott demanded that new rules be issued to require nursing home and assisted living facilities have generators sufficient to run air conditioning for at least 96 hours. No one wants to see this horror story again. But, will outrage translate into action?

The industry held a summit to discuss the demands and came to a conclusion that the time frame is impossible to carry out. The estimated cost is $240 million statewide and how those costs are recovered is being debated. So, where do we go from here? U.S. News and World Report ranks nursing homes on their performance based upon quality of medical care, impact of rehabilitation services, number of nursing hours and other significant factors. Noticeably missing is the ability of a facility to deal effectively in a crisis situation. At least in Florida, we need to publicly evaluate these centers on their ability to protect our seniors during a crisis.

FPL does not have these centers on the priority category for restoring power; it says there are too many to make them a priority. Their point — which is not unreasonable — if everyone is a priority, no one really is. But lives are at stake.

As a community, we must come together to be certain the frail and elderly are not forgotten. I applaud the governor’s initiative and the various legislative proposals, but we need to make it possible for the facilities to comply, for the residents to be safe and for the families to know their loved ones are in good care.

Caring for the elderly is big business. It’s serious business. It’s also a business of love, patience, tenderness and a special quality of kindness that goes above and beyond the ordinary.

As I stood inside the facility at midnight with no air conditioning, sweating and watching a team of city workers find a solution, I saw patients who deserved better from us as a society. It was heartbreaking. We do not need more words or lobbyists to undermine life-saving efforts. We need action to assure that senior citizens’ lives are never put at risk again in circumstances that can be avoided. Their dignity deserves nothing less.

Michael Ryan is mayor of Sunrise and a partner at the law firm of Krupnick Campbell Malone Buser Slama Hancock Liberman, PA. He may be reached at 954-763-8181.