Florida Nursing Home Groups Back Generator Requirement

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida Gov. Rick Scott said on Tuesday that four key Florida trade groups have agreed to drop all challenges to his proposed requirement that Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities be equipped with backup power generators capable of cooling such facilities during a power outage. The measure still requires approval from the Florida legislature which is not at all certain. The rule stems from the deaths of 12 Hollywood, Florida nursing home residents who were forced to endure sweltering conditions at the now shuttered Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in the days following Hurricane Irma.

"My goal throughout this process was to ensure that every facility in Florida can provide a safe environment for its residents," the governor said in announcing the trade group support. "These rules accomplish this important goal by having generators and fuel supply resources at every nursing home and [assisted living facility] in Florida."

Collectively, the four trade groups represent thousands of nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout Florida. They are the Florida Health Care Association, Florida Senior Living Association, LeadingAge Florida and the Florida Assisted Living Association.

In November, the chief medical examiner of Broward County ruled the deaths of 12 former residents to be homicides. Dr. Craig Mallak also found that two others deaths were not related to the horrific conditions at the Hollywood facility. Hollywood police said they would focus their criminal investigation on the dozen victims ruled homicides.

“Following the tragic loss of life at the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center last year, I immediately ordered our state agencies to require each nursing home and [assisted living facility] in Florida to have emergency generators to keep their residents safe during a disaster," Scott said.

If adopted, Florida would be one of the first states in the nation to impose such a requirement on its many nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Most of the nursing homes in Florida have 120 licensed beds, according to state officials, who said that there are a total of 685 nursing homes in the state with a total of 83,858 beds. As of Jan. 5, 108 nursing homes were already in compliance with the proposed requirement.

"The bottom line is that we fought for residents and they will be safer because of these rules," Scott said. "I look forward to the legislature ratifying these life-saving rules.”

State regulators have filed notice of the change to the permanent nursing home and assisted living facility generator rules. Click here to see notice for nursing homes and here for assisted living facilities.

Some 158 patients were evacuated from the Hollywood facility, many on stretchers or in wheelchairs in the days following the storm.

The facility staff dialed 9-1-1 on Sept. 12. By the next morning, rescue officials realized the situation at the center had significantly deteriorated. It operated for days without air-conditioning and the rooms became stiflingly hot.

Photo credit: John McCall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP