Nearly two years after a dozen nursing home residents died from heat-related causes after Hurricane Irma, more than 1,000 elder care facilities in Florida still don’t have permanent backup generators, according to an article on the ABC Action News website.
In the Tampa Bay area alone, 125 nursing homes and 160 assisted living facilities don't have approved, permanent generators in place.
A Florida law fines facilities as much as $1,000 per day for failure to install permanent generators, but records show these facilities rarely paid fines.
Many of these facilities avoided fines by receiving state-approved extensions — blaming installation delays or financial hardships.
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