Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans for ALFs: Proposed Changes

With Hurricane Ian search and rescue and cleanup efforts underway, Florida’s Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes will soon be evaluating their individual emergency responses and discussing with their teams what worked well and what may not have gone as planned.

It’s particularly timely to pay attention to the Agency for Health Care Administration’s proposed changes to the Emergency Management rule (s. 59A-36.019, FAC), the Emergency Environmental Control for Assisted Living Facilities (s. 59A-36.025, FAC) and the Agency’s form entitled Comprehensive Emergency Management Planning (CEMP) Criteria for Assisted Living Facilities, October, 1995. The proposed changes to these three provisions were published September 9 in the Florida Administrative Register (Notice: 26269363).

Many of the elements from the existing 1995 version of the CEMP have been carried forward with technical modifications to the proposed version. However, the proposed CEMP also includes dozens of new procedures, descriptions, and an expansion of the organization chart.

The proposed Hazard Analysis section is more robust with more specificity around the types of residents, the maximum number of staff on site, and the base level elevation of the ALF. As might be expected, the Concept of Operations section includes the most proposed changes, such as increasing the number of days that essential supplies must be kept on hand from 3 to 4 days. A new, proposed subsection to Concept of Operations, During an Emergency, would ask ALFs to describe how and what type of services will continue to be provided for residents remaining at the ALF during an emergency event.  

While Assisted Living Facilities would be the only health care provider type licensed by the Agency to be impacted by these proposed changes, their resulting emergency management plans would be more fully aligned with the concept of All-Hazards Planning and the U.S. National Response Framework which is adhered to by the County Emergency Management Offices.

Assisted Living Facility leaders interested in emergency management policy are advised to connect with each other and their Association representatives to review the proposed changes and provide input to the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Upcoming Workshop

The next workshop to discuss the proposed changes is scheduled for Tuesday, October 11, 2022:

Please Note: This workshop has been rescheduled for November 29, 2022, from 2:00 – 3:00 pm

In person: Agency for Health Care Administration, 2727 Mahan Drive, Building 3, Conference Room A, Tallahassee.

By phone: Interested persons may also participate by dialing the conference line, 1(888)585-9008, then enter the conference room number followed by the pound sign, 998-518-088#.

The agenda and related materials can be found on the Agency’s Rulemaking site.

Draft ALF CEMP Form Quick Link (10/4/22)

All-Hazards Planning Concepts

For persons interested in learning more about All-Hazards Planning, Laurel Senior Living Education produced a free eLearning course in February exploring those concepts for Assisted Care Communities. The course is free, but providers are asked to create a secure account within the LSLE learning portal to access the training.

Check out All-Hazards Planning Concepts in Assisted Care Communities in the LSLE Course Catalog.

Visit LSLE’s Resource Center for additional Emergency Preparedness information.