As the latest onslaught of extreme weather affects much of the U.S., Senate Democrats on Thursday released an investigation finding shortcomings in long-term care facilities’ emergency preparedness.
Nearly half of the 1,200 nursing homes in Texas reported power or water outages, evacuations or other emergencies to state regulators during the 2021 storm, which struck in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the committees’ investigation found. At least 1,400 nursing-home and assisted-living residents were evacuated, and two residents died, according to the report.
The early 2021 storm, known as Winter Storm Uri, underscored longstanding gaps in long-term-care facilities’ emergency preparedness. During on-site inspections of 154 nursing homes in eight states conducted in 2018 and 2019, the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general found violations of life safety and emergency preparedness requirements at almost all of the facilities, according to a report released last year.
Long-term-care-industry trade group American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living said in a statement that “the vast majority of long term care facilities successfully implement their emergency plans, and the heroic actions of staff help ensure the safety and well-being of countless lives when such events occur.