Florida health officials were almost, but not quite, letting out a sigh of relief as Hurricane Milton trekked east, away from the Sunshine State.
The glimmer of hope was much welcomed Thursday, since long-term care communities had begun preparing for the worst for nearly a week.
By and large, the word Thursday was that diligent planning and execution of emergency plans had paid off for long-term care operators in the path of what was being forecast as the worst hurricane to hit Florida in 100 years.
“[We] started preparations knowing we were, at the very least, going to get a lot of rain the Thursday prior to the storm hitting,” Kimberly Biegasiewicz, president and CEO of Avante Group, told McKnights Long-Term Care Thursday. Avante operates 11 nursing homes in Florida. Its Inverness skilled nursing facility is just two hours north of Sarasota, where Milton made landfall.
“We ensured the facilities tested and ran generators, had all necessary supplies on hand, placed sandbags and ensured all deliveries would be received well ahead of the storm,” Biegasiewicz explained.
Teamwork makes the dream work seemed to be the shared sentiment both before and after Milton, as Floridians from many walks of life lent a helping hand to seniors in need, as well as to their caregivers.
“We reached out to the local hospitals and SNFs that were evacuating to offer support. [We] took in several respite patients to offer them relief from the storm,” Biegasiewicz said.
A video posted on Accuweather’s X page vividly shows how dozens of ambulances in Sarasota County lined up to help nursing home residents safely evacuate on Wednesday. At least 10 deaths were attributed to Milton, which spawned a record 126 tornado warnings and which left millions without power.
The Florida Health Care Association held an Emergency Preparedness Briefing on Thursday where several officials gave updates on how their communities were faring at the tail end of Milton.
Taking care of business
In opening the call, FHCA CEO Emmett Reid declared that 9,000 nursing home residents had been successfully evacuated. Others added to the good news.
“We have had 403 evacuations, and that number will continue to climb a bit,” Kimberly Smoak, deputy secretary for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, said during the call. “Of that 403, we had 222 of our assisted living facilities evacuated, along with 76 of our nursing homes.”
Much of the focus after Milton will be on assessing flood damage, specifically near the St. Petersburg airport, which received 18.14 inches of rain, as well as along the St. Johns River.
Restoring power for residents statewide is also high on the priority list.
“As of our morning reporting, we have 552 of our healthcare facilities, including our hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other residential healthcare facilities reporting power outages,” Smoak noted.
Florida health officials and providers were being recognized for handling Milton in an efficient manner, escaping negative headlines that such as those that have occurred after other major storms.
It was just three years ago that Hurricane Ida roared through Louisiana, leaving death and destruction in its wake. As McKnight’s Long-Term News reported earlier this week, former nursing home operator Bob Dean agreed to an $8.2 million payout for severely mishandling resident evacuation from a handful of his facilities during the storm. Ultimately, seven residents died and hundreds had to be rescued from deplorable conditions. His 20-year sentence was reduced to probation but he faces myriad other fines and lawsuits as well.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the Fort Lauderdale, FL, area resulting in the death of 12 nursing home patients and embroiling caregivers in public outrage. The lawsuits were ultimately dropped but that happened only after widespread negative publicity.
Those examples are dwarfed by the Mangano case, which came after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005. The storm resulted in the deaths of 35 nursing home patients in one location alone, and more elsewhere. A couple who owned and ran the nursing home were totally cleared of dozens of criminal charges brought against them, but only after two years of withering criticism that traveled literally around the world.
