CLEARWATER, Florida — Over the last five years, there's been a push to make nursing homes and assisted living safer both during and after a storm. 14 people died in South Florida from heat-related illnesses when the air conditioning went out during Hurricane Irma.
The state has been keeping tabs on which facilities have a generator and an emergency plan. Under Florida law passed in 2018, facilities are required to have an emergency plan and a source for backup power to maintain air conditioning for 72 hours.
During a check online, 10 Investigates found the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) listed 17 facilities in Florida with a generator deficiency — one was in Pasco County. Executive Director of Sunflower Trinity Christopher Hyland told 10 Investigates it wasn’t clear why the state would put them on that list.
“We just had our biennial survey from AHCA and they review the generator at length and we did not have a tag regarding the generator and they renewed our license for the next two years,” Hyland explained.
Across Florida, nine facilities were listed as not in full compliance on the AHCA website. Five of those were in the Bay area — one in each of these communities: Clearwater, St. Pete, Spring Hill, Riverview, and Wesley Chapel.
Skycrest Place in Clearwater was one of those locations. The owners, Sereh and Stephen Weik, say the facility has only been open a few months, and while they submitted the plan for approval, they haven’t received word yet that it was approved.
Sereh says she’s already called the city asking why and it appears to be a paperwork issue — something she hopes will be tweaked soon.
“We are surprised because before we opened the business, months before this opened, we had all our documents, emergency plan, and I don’t know what’s going on," Sereh said.
Over the years, more facilities have become compliant. When 10 Investigates checked in August 2019, there were 70 assisted living facilities and nursing homes in the Tampa Bay area that were not in compliance.
Back in June 2020, 10 Investigates found four facilities in the state without those required generators. Three were in the Bay area — one in Hardee County, Hillsborough County, and one in Sarasota County.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home or in assisted living, you can check on their compliance on the AHCA website.