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Florida nursing homes ignored post-Hurricane Irma emergency power rule

The rule, which is now under a legal challenge, requires nursing homes to prove they can run generators for four days.
Health care workers walk down streets filled with emergency equipment near Memorial Regional Hospital.

Thursday morning update:

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration revised its list of nursing homes it claims has ignored new requirements on planning for prolonged power outages. The agency now says 18 facilities have not complied, down from 21.

Two Southwest Florida nursing homes remained on the list: Heartland Health Care Center-Fort Myers and The Arlington of Naples Inc.

Three of those facilities are in Pinellas County including Jacaranda Manor, Masonic Home Of Florida, and Saint Mark Village. 10News reached out to all three facilities.

Jacaranda Manor's administrator told 10News it did submit the plans and blamed it on e-mail error. A spokesperson with the Masonic Home of Florida said the facility is compliant and they submitted the plans Thursday. We haven't heard back from Saint Mark Village.

FLORIDA -- The Florida agency overseeing nursing homes said Wednesday that 21 facilities, including two in Southwest Florida, are ignoring new rules aimed at preventing heat-related deaths during prolonged power outages.

Gov. Rick Scott’s administration put Emergency Rule 59AER17-1 in place after more than a dozen residents of a Broward County nursing home died of heat-related causes in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

The rule, which is now under a legal challenge, requires nursing homes to prove they can run generators for four days and keep inside temperatures at 80 degrees or less and have those upgrades in place by the end of November.

They had until Oct. 31 to submit their plans. Regulators have threatened to start fining non-complying nursing homes $1,000 a day starting Nov. 15.

"It is of the utmost importance that the nursing homes who have not responded do so immediately," said Justin Senior, the secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in a written statement. "These rules were implemented with the safety of patients and residents in nursing homes in mind."

The listed Lee County nursing home was Heartland Health Care Center-Fort Myers. A Collier County nursing home, The Arlington of Naples Inc., also made the list.

Calusa Harbour in Fort Myers was initially among them. But after an inquiry from The News-Press and the nursing home itself, the Agency for Health Care Administration conceded that Calusa Harbour had submitted a plan Oct. 26. It also removed a St. Petersburg nursing home from the original list.

Bill Brewster, executive director of Calusa Harbour in Fort Myers, said his nursing home was already in compliance.

"We actually meet all the requirements of the new rule without doing anything," he said. "So our plan was really simple."

Heartland Health Care Center did not immediately respond to an interview. The Arlington of Naples also did not comment, though a staffer who answered the phone Wednesday afternoon said the state had erred in putting the nursing home on the list.

LeadingAge Florida, a group representing nursing homes, was among the industry groups challenging the new rules in court, claiming the November deadline to implement the new rules was unrealistic. A Florida judge agreed, though state regulators maintain the plan reporting deadlines are still in place.

"It kind of goes to the confusion that seems to be surrounding the issue," said Cecka Rose Green, spokeswoman for LeadingAge Florida. "We agree with the governor's premise. We've never not agreed with ensuring that residents are safe during the time of an emergency."

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