Long-Term Care Residents Still Powerless After Past Storms
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The lack of emergency power in care homes during natural disasters is causing concern among residents and experts. Hurricane Beryl, which hit Texas in July, caused power outages affecting more than 2 million people, including those in senior independent living facilities, many of which do not have emergency power systems. Despite incidents including a 2021 Texas winter storm causing widespread blackouts, change has been slow and the responsibility falls on states, with many arguing that installing generators is expensive and extreme weather events are rare.
Houston Resident Struggles Post-Hurricane Beryl Amid Power Outage Woes
In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in Houston, resident Tina Kitzmiller grappled with intense heat in her apartment, concerned about her dog, Kai, and her elderly neighbors in her senior independent living facility. Power outages caused by the hurricane affected more than 2 million people, including her facility, exacerbating the heatwave with temperatures hitting 90 degrees.
Kai and Tina had recently moved into the facility after experiencing a May derecho event in their previous home, an RV. Tina, a retired postal worker, was under the assumption that her new residence would have an emergency power system, similar to what she experienced in the post offices. “I never thought I needed to inquire about a generator,” confessed Tina.
Extreme weather events like the 2021 Texas winter storm and the subsequent U.S. Senate investigation have yet to yield significant changes in emergency preparedness for long-term care facilities. David Grabowski, a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School believes progress is slow and inadequate.
Power outages are particularly perilous for older adults due to their susceptibility to extreme temperatures. These individuals often have conditions that impair their heat regulation and cold tolerance. Moreover, certain medications require specific temperature settings for their stability.
While federal guidelines mandate safe indoor temperatures in nursing homes, there are no specific regulations on how to achieve this. States bear the responsibility for compliance, according to Grabowski. Moreover, state-level regulations govern the rules for assisted living facilities, resulting in a wide variance in emergency preparedness.
In spite of hurricanes causing widespread power outages in states like Maryland and Florida, leading to the adoption of rules for generators in assisted living facilities, Texas has not followed suit. This lack of oversight leaves residents of the approximately 2,000 assisted living facilities and even lesser-regulated independent living sites vulnerable.
Gregory Shelley from the Harris County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at UTHealth Houston’s Cizik School of Nursing acknowledges that installing generators is a costly affair. However, he notes that Houstonians are facing more frequent power outages, reinforcing the need for better preparedness.
In the wake of the 2021 blackouts in Texas and the subsequent voluntary survey, it was found that only 47% of assisted living facilities and 99% of nursing homes had generators. Post the U.S. Senate investigation, it was recommended that all assisted living facilities should have emergency power supplies to ensure safe temperatures and the functioning of medical equipment. The recommendations are yet to be implemented.
A week after Hurricane Beryl, Tina expressed her frustrations with the slow response from companies and politicians. “It’s their mothers, their grandmothers, and their family in these homes, these facilities,” she said. “All I can think is ‘Shame on you.’”
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