Nursing homes on the East Coast are in overdrive this week, as they prepare for an “extremely dangerous” hurricane, expected to result in catastrophic flooding across the Eastern seaboard.
Hurricane Florence continues to expand in size, with expectations that it will touch down between South Carolina and North Carolina’s Outer Banks as a Category 3 Thursday, the Washington Post reports. The National Hurricane Center said the Carolinas and Virginia should expect a triple threat of damaging, hurricane-force winds; life-threatening, freshwater flooding from prolonged rainfall; and a storm surge of ocean water over normally dry land.
In Georgia, the University Hospital in Augusta is taking in 50-plus skilled nursing and assisted living residents who have been evacuated from coastal facilities, the Chronicle newspaper reports. Many of those being evacuated to Extended Care Amara were also transferred to the same facility last year ahead of Hurricane Irma.
Palmetto Health, in Columbia, S.C., is also working with the Greenville Health System to accept patients being evacuated from skilled nursing facilities on the coast, Modern Healthcare reports.
More than 1.5 million people have been ordered to vacate coastal areas, according to the Post. “All interests from South Carolina into the Mid-Atlantic region should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place and follow any advice given by local officials,” the Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane preparation has been a pressing concern for the field, following deadly incidents at nursing homes in Florida and Texas last year.
September is also National Disaster Preparedness Month. Last week, LeadingAge shared its own webpage with several resources that skilled nursing providers can use to prepare themselves.
