As hurricane season nears, many nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Florida are struggling to meet the requirements that they have backup power generators, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
State records show that 89 long-term care facilities have told Florida officials in the last month that they won’t have generators by June 1.
The Agency for Health Care Administration has posted information that says 35 percent of the 684 nursing homes across the state have installed generators. The remaining 444 nursing homes have submitted requests for “variances” from the rules.
State economists estimated that the mandate would cost nursing home operators $121.3 million over the first five years, about $66 million of which would be offset by taxpayers through Medicaid, according to the article.
The cost for assisted living facilities was estimated to be $243 million. Because assisted living facilities generally don’t house Medicaid-funded patients, those costs wouldn’t be offset by taxpayers.
Cathryn Jakicic is healthcare industries editor of FacilitiesNet.com. For more information on hospital campuses and other medical facilities, visit Healthcare Facilities Today.
