Hurricane Ian Hits Nursing Homes Already Beset By Staffing Crisis

Florida nursing homes, already strapped for staff while the sector continues to face a historic workforce crisis on a national level, now are enduring Hurricane Ian and bracing for its aftermath. The storm was making its way north and across the state on Wednesday.

The Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) said facilities have been preparing for the hurricane, checking fuel supplies, checking generators and stocking emergency supplies. Facility “hardening” and continual communication with outside partners and contacts is crucial as well, the association said in a statement.

“Our team is in regular communication with long term care facilities across the state,” said FHCA CEO Emmett Reed. “We are coordinating efforts with state authorities and utility partners while facilities work with their county emergency management offices, transportation and utility partners on local decision-making.”

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Florida is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, which in the past added extra staff support when needed, FHCA senior director of strategy and communication Kristen Knapp said in an email to Skilled Nursing News.

“We haven’t heard of any staffing issues from the call downs we have been making, the main focus has been on making sure facilities are ready for impact,” added Knapp.

The storm has made landfall in an area with a high concentration of nursing homes, Knapp said. About 35 buildings were evacuated, impacting about 3,000 residents.

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“Evacuations always pose a concern about transfer trauma. We care for very frail elders who have complex medical needs, require oxygen, have Alzheimer’s or dementia so we have to account for their mental health needs as well in the midst of an evacuation,” said Knapp.

Reed said the association prepares year-round for emergencies, particularly for hurricane season, by training its staff and residents on what to do.

Florida SEIU 1199 is focused on maintaining communication with staff at facilities as well to ensure their safety, the union’s regional political director Coy Jones told Spectrum News.

“The critical caregiver staffing shortage makes caring for patients ever more difficult and dangerous, not just in emergencies but every day,” Margarette Nerette told SNN in an email. Nerette serves as vice president of long-term care for 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. “This staffing and safety crisis is not new. It’s due to operators — that rake in billions of our tax dollars — putting profits over people, plus Tallahassee politicians allowing them to do it for the past 20 years. We desperately need new leaders who will protect our seniors and their caregivers each day, and especially when we’re faced with major threats like Hurricane Ian. We’re working hard and hoping deeply that these crises don’t turn into calamity.”

Jones said a lot of its members currently don’t earn enough to evacuate and pay for a hotel during a hurricane, but the union is working to get wage increases for its members. The organization represents more than 25,000 active and retired caregivers in about 80 nursing homes and 30 hospitals across the state.

Those who care for Medicaid beneficiaries are set to receive a wage increase to $15 per hour in October, a measure the union fought for amid staff shortages – long-term care provider organizations in the state have asked for the wage hike to be postponed until new Medicaid rates have been posted.

The state hasn’t responded to association requests for a 60-day extension, according to reports.

While staffing poses a major problem for Hurricane Ian, every facility does have a back-up generator on-site; the move was part of the response to nursing home deaths in 2017 following Hurricane Irma.

An analysis by the JAMA Network found deaths rose 25% in facilities that saw power outages during Irma.

“100 percent are reporting generators on site…and we are happy about that,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a speech on Tuesday.

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