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Nursing Homes Must Have Generators Today Or Face A Fine

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities must have a generator that can run the air conditioning starting Tuesday. If not, they risk a $1,000 dollar a day fine.

The emergency rules come after more than a dozen patients died when a South Florida nursing home lost power from Hurricane Irma. So far, the state says 21 nursing homes and 1,250 assisted living facilities aren’t following the rule. But industry groups dispute those figures, and say it’s impossible to meet 60 day deadline.

A state judge ruled against the deadlines, but Gov. Rick Scott’s administration said the rules are in effect during an appeal.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are also debating the issue, as well possible funding for upgrades. Critics have pounced on Scott’s handling of the issue. Scott is widely seen as planning a run against Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018.

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.