Dunedin senior home taking steps to avoid post-Irma tragedy in South Florida

After horror unfolded at a South Florida nursing home in the days after Hurricane Irma, the state of Florida is taking steps to avoid any situation like it again. 

• Dunedin senior home taking steps to avoid post-Irma tragedy in South Florida
• 12 seniors died in South Florida after lack of power, no AC
• Residents at senior facility Mease Manor said they have felt safe before, during and after hurricane

A dozen people died at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after the facility lost power and air conditioning after the hurricane. 

Eight patients died Sept. 13, three days after the storm knocked out the nursing home’s air conditioning. Others died in the following days. Some who died had body temperatures as high as 109.9 degrees. 

The facility faced scrutiny and criticism in the days following those deaths. 

Now, nursing homes across the state are racing to meet an emergency mandate issued by Gov. Rick Scott requiring all assisted living facilities to obtain generators and fuel to sustain operations and maintain comfortable temperatures for at least 96 hours following power outages.

Residents at Mease Manor, a senior living community in Dunedin, residents said they felt safe before and after the hurricane. Residents met with staff before the storm and the situation was explained to them to put them at ease. 

Resident Melba Rilott said she knew she was safe at Mease Manor. In fact, Rilott said she was more worried about her car. 

Ultimately, the faciluty held up well, with only a few branches knocked down and a few screens blown out. 

Mease Manor CEO Kent McRae said the staff had already been working on comprehensive emergency management plans before Hurricane Irma. 

The facility did lose power but was prepared with backup generators supplying air conditioning. Now, he said the facility is upgraded to meet the governor's new mandate. 

"It is sufficient to meet the need currently," McRae said. "But we would like to improve upon that and even before the governor's mandate we had started a plan to add additional generator back up power to fully operationalize all of our buildings in the event we lose power that we can continue to maintain normal operations." 

And it's that type of preparation that makes the residents feel safe.

"I think God was really looking over us," Rilott said. "We had the best care, the staff is wonderful, they all came in, they all served."

McRae said the only concern with the governor's mandate is the short, 60-day time frame - which he said could be tough to meet.

Right now, there are also two bills state lawmakers filed to prevent lengthy air conditioning outages at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.