Photo courtesy APNews. After 850 nursing home patients were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida in 2021, the Louisiana Department of Health assists with their relocation.
A bill filed for the regular legislative session in March would assure nursing homes have emergency power for disasters and other emergencies. After Hurricane Ida last fall, nursing home residents were taken to – and left in – an uncomfortable warehouse with no lights or cooling. Several died in those conditions. St. Martin Parish Senator Fred Mills is the bill’s sponsor. He says MOST nursing homes are already taking care of this, but… “this bill just makes it mandatory and it spells out some guidelines of alternative sources of energy, in the event of a catastrophe or energy loss.”
Mills says he brought the bill after talking with the nursing homes industry, who wish to be proactive in avoiding another tragedy like last summer. His Senate Bill 33 will put into law requirements that nursing homes have a working emergency power system in place. He says the language of the measure covers some other important requirements, “it also spells out how much fuel they should have available for storage. It also addresses having contracts to make sure that fuel can be brought to the site, in case of a long-term power disruption,” Mills says.
The Senator says the bill will firmly establish clear cut rules for helping keep the elderly safe and secure after a hurricane, storm or other power outage. He says his bill, if passed, allows nursing homes the time to make sure they can get emergency power systems in place, as it won’t take effect until June 30th of 2023. Mills’ bill will be brought up when the legislature convenes its regular session March 14th.
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