State agency to reject licenses at nursing homes without backup power

Tallahassee, Fla. — The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) says they will begin rejecting licenses for nursing homes and assisted living facilities without emergency power plans and equipment.

Officials say they have put facilities who have not met legal requirements to have backup generators and enough fuel to keep a common area cool for 4 days on notice.

The law was passed after 14 people died at a facility in Broward County where temperatures soared when the power was knocked out  during the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

A quick check of the AHCA database shows several facilities do not currently meet the new requirements and officials recommend that anyone with loved ones in a nursing home ask to see their emergency power plans and equipment.

That was in September 2017.