Argentum and our State Partner, the Florida Senior Living Association (FSLA), are closely monitoring the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Milton, which struck near the Tampa Bay area late last night and tracked across the Florida Peninsula today. As of this afternoon, more than 550 health care facilities in the state remain without power. There have been no reported deaths of assisted living residents.
More than 400 health care facilities evacuated due to the storm, including 222 assisted living communities, making this the largest evacuation of these facilities in Florida’s history. Many communities went above and beyond to help their residents, families, and caregivers through a smooth evacuation process, such as Barrington Terrace in Fort Myers. At least one community in Tampa—not located in an evacuation zone—was forced to evacuate early this morning due to rising flood waters. For any community that had to evacuate, it is the state’s first priority to relocate residents back to their communities.
Argentum and FSLA are monitoring community needs regarding power outages, phone/internet access, water/sewage, or accessibility due to flooding that may prevent safe passage of residents, caregivers, and supplies. To ensure that these needs are communicated to emergency management officials, we ask that operators fill out our brief survey; we will relay these responses to authorities to provide assistance. Communities may also report to Paul Williams with Argentum (pwilliams@argentum.org, 410-900-5100) or Gail Matillo, President & CEO of FSLA, at info@floridaseniorliving.org or 850-496-2562.
Workforce Support
To help with immediate workforce needs due to the storm, now through October 14, Argentum member KARE will waive all fees associated with bringing in Heroes for communities that request help from KARE; the communities will pay only for the cost of labor. For affected Florida communities, KARE will have an operations team standing by to help post shifts and reach out to Heroes to fill open shifts. KARE has around 4,000 Heroes (CNAs, CMAs, LPNs and RNs) in the general area of the storm track. To get started:
KARE was established following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017 in response to the critical staffing challenges in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Unlike a staffing agency, KARE does not set the pay rates, instead the customers do. Communities chose who come into their community based on ratings and reviews. If Communities like a HERO, they can hire them full time for free.
Next Steps:
In the coming weeks, Argentum will be working with Congressional leaders on the specific relief needs of senior living communities. Last year, Argentum successfully advocated for senior living communities impacted by storms to be eligible for the $16 billion in federal disaster relief funding, and in 2022 ensured that senior living providers would be eligible for funding from the $858 million disaster relief package established for communities and businesses in Hurricanes Ian and Fiona impacted areas to repair or replace disaster-damaged property including real estate, inventories, supplies, machinery and equipment.