Fort Lauderdale Hospital Loses Power, Evacuates 7 Patients

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Seeking to avoid a repeat of the Florida nursing home tragedy in the days following Hurricane Irma, a Fort Lauderdale hospital Friday voluntarily evacuated seven intensive care patients when the facility lost power. The Kindred Hospital patients were moved to nearby Broward General Hospital. The evacuation came eight months after the deaths of 14 residents at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.

"Patient care and safety is our number one concern," explained David Wagner, CEO of Kindred's South Florida operations. The hospital also operates facilities in Coral Gables and Hollywood.

"Earlier in the day, we lost power and out of an abundance of caution and in order to protect our patients, we evacuated seven intensive care patients to Broward General," Wagner said.

A number of first responders could be seen outside the hospital, which is located at 1516 E Las Olas Blvd., one of the city's busiest streets. The Fort Lauderdale facility is a 70-bed freestanding hospital offering the "same in-depth care you would receive in a traditional hospital, but for an extended recovery period," according to the Kindred website.

Detective Tracy Figone of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department told Patch that her agency assisted with traffic issues related to the evacuation.

"At the time the patients were evacuated, the building was without backup emergency power," Wagner added late Friday afternoon. "Currently, the building is under emergency power for all patient care. This allows us to continue to care for our patients until normal power is restored to the building."

In the wake of the Florida nursing home deaths, the state of Florida ordered every nursing home and assisted living facility to be equipped with emergency generators. Gov. Rick Scott signed the measure into law back in March, making Florida one of the first states in the nation to require emergency generators at facilities that care for the elderly.

"The tragedy at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills made it clear more needed to be done to ensure the protection of vulnerable Floridians during emergencies like Hurricane Irma," the governor said in signing the measure into law. "As we near the 2018 hurricane season, families can now know the facilities responsible for caring for their loved ones will have the resources needed to be fully prepared ahead of any potential storms."

Hurricane season in the Sunshine state runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The chief medical examiner of Broward County ruled 12 of the 14 nursing home deaths to be homicides. The deaths of the two other former residents of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hill were found to be unrelated to the horrific conditions at the now shuttered facility.

Kindred Hospital - South Florida Fort Lauderdale courtesy Kindred Hospital