On Wednesday, we found out that at least eight residents of The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills died as a direct result of the facility not having air conditioning since being hit by Hurricane Irma. This is a telltale sign of abuse and neglect. As reported in the Sun Sentinel, the Hollywood Police Department is treating the deaths as a criminal investigation.
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, we were exposed to another loophole in regulation and so-called "best practices" for the elderly. Under Florida law, the state's 700 nursing homes are not required to have generators for residents. Rather, "alternative forms of power" are sufficient. What, you might ask, is an alternative form of power? Apparently, battery-powered fans are enough. How has this gap in care been able to exist without public knowledge or scrutiny?
In a state where roughly 20 percent of the population is over the age of 65 and baby boomers are approaching retirement, assisted living facilities, as well as nursing homes, will continue to be in great demand. And, as weather forecasting goes, natural disasters, such as hurricanes, are likely to be more powerful and common. Florida is vulnerable to future catastrophes. Yet, through all the placating and pandering our politicians show toward the senior citizen community, they have proven that talk is cheap. It is a travesty that mandating nursing homes to have generators has not been implemented. As we saw during Hurricane Harvey in Houston, the elderly become trapped in nursing homes and left with little resources. This is unacceptable.
As a proactive measure, our state and national politicians and bureaucrats should allocate money to nursing homes that care for patients with federally-funded insurance, like Medicare. All facilities with senior citizens who are at high risk of serious declining health should be mandated to have round-the-clock air conditioning. This is extraordinarily beneficial to those who rely on oxygen, are prone to fainting and have high blood pressure. This is also a cost-effective measure, as it reduces the number of individuals who need to be transferred to hospitals and other facilities that have access to power. The politicians who do not support such measures should publicly disclose why they oppose such a mandate that aids a large swath of the voting public that elects them to office year after year.
Emergency evacuation plans are not enough, as this latest horrific news shows. When roads are blocked, power lines are down and hospitals are full, nursing home residents become stuck, and unfortunately, an afterthought.
Bradley Jaffe, a licensed clinical social worker, is the owner of Family Relations Intervention, LLC, a private counseling practice in Boca Raton.