When Hurricane Micheal hit, more than half of the 412 Florida assisted-living facilities and nursing homes had yet to implement their emergency power plans, after receiving extensions from the state to comply, according to an article on the Tampa Bay Times website.
When the Legislature passed rules this year requiring emergency power in long-term care facilities, Hurricane Michael was exactly the kind of disaster lawmakers had in mind, the article said.
But those generator rules were still not done being implemented by hundreds of facilities in the region where Michael's impact is being felt hardest.
In the Panhandle and Big Bend regions, more than half of the facilities have been exempted from meeting the rule by June 1 according to the agency's data, and are still implementing the requirements.
Hospitals Are Energy Super-Users. Why Is It So Hard to Modernize Them?
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Bangor Officially Opens
Early Entry: Manager's Critical Role in Construction Planning
The Evolution of Lighting in Patient Care
HealthPartners and Essentia Health to Combine Organizations