Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Following 9 Deaths At Florida Nursing Home, Task Force Formed To Push For Reforms
Miami Herald: Haunted By Nursing Home Deaths, Task Force Joins Rush To Make Reforms
In a crowded North Miami Beach City Hall chamber, elected officials, first responders and healthcare workers gathered to establish a task force to better regulate senior facilities, in the wake of eight deaths in Hollywood. The task force, started Tuesday, aims to combine efforts to enact national, state and local policies to ensure the safety of those in assisted living facilities in the wake of a disaster. (Ostroff, 9/19)
The Washington Post: Hurricane Aftermath: Death Toll Rises To 9 In South Florida Nursing Home That Overheated
A ninth patient from a South Florida nursing home that overheated during power outages following Hurricane Irma died on Tuesday, according to police. The death of Carlos Canal, the ninth patient, occurred nearly a week after the nursing home in Hollywood, Fla., became the focus of a criminal investigation when the air conditioning failed and eight other patients ultimately died. (Berman, 9/19)
Kaiser Health News: Nursing Home Disaster Plans Often Faulted As ‘Paper Tigers’
It does not take a hurricane to put nursing home residents at risk when disaster strikes. Around the country, facilities have been caught unprepared for far more mundane emergencies than the hurricanes that recently struck Florida and Houston, according to an examination of federal inspection records. Those homes rarely face severe reprimands, records show, even when inspectors identify repeated lapses. (Rau, 9/19)
Miami Herald: Gov. Scott Places Blame For 9 Deaths Directly On Hollywood Nursing Home
Four days after the owners of a Hollywood nursing home released a detailed time line casting blame for the deaths of eight elders on Florida health administrators and a local utility, Gov. Rick Scott’s administration issued a time line of its own — declaring that the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills “failed to do their basic duty to protect life.” (Marbin Miller and Klas, 9/19)
