A Dallas skilled nursing facility went without power for days due to an apparent breakdown in communications with a utility company, according to local reports.
Residents of the 228-bed Golden Acres Living and Rehabilitation Center had to cope with the power outage during a weekend when Dallas saw a winter storm and abnormally frigid temperatures, Fox affiliate KDFW reported. After more than two days on generator power, the facility experienced a total blackout Monday morning.
Utility company Oncor says it did not know that the facility was a nursing home, or it would have acted more urgently to restore power, according to KDFW.
However, the daughter of a Golden Acres resident says that she repeatedly called Oncor and stressed that the facility is a critical care nursing home, the news report stated.
This is not the only example of resident safety being compromised by a utility company-related issue during a severe weather event. After Shore View Rehabilitation and Care Center was hit during “Super Storm” Sandy, Consolidated Edison electrified the New York facility’s still-flooded basement, Shore View’s Chief Strategy Officer Michael Schrieber told McKnight’s in August.
He stressed that emergency preparation should include planning to communicate with utility companies.