Okla. Bill Requiring Generators in Large Assisted Living Facilities Advances

Oklahoma State Rep. Joe Dorman praised a House committee for the passage of legislation to require Oklahoma assisted living facilities with 50 or more beds to have a backup generator for emergency power in case of a disaster.

House Bill 2002 includes a provision allowing a facility to request an exemption if they could show financial hardship, Dorman said. The legislation also requires facilities to file an emergency evacuation plan with their local fire department and county emergency management director.

“The idea was never to create an inappropriate financial burden on assisted living facilities,” Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said. “That’s why we have specified facilities of a certain size and created an exemption for facilities that could show a financial hardship.”

Dorman said his interest stemmed from a constituent request.

The request led to a bill last session which did not pass, and then a study in which the Oklahoma Department of Health Long Term Care Service showed that of 133 facilities surveyed, 89 had a backup generator. OSDH also stated that they strongly supported onsite sheltering as opposed to the transfer of residents to another facility during a natural disaster.

“We also learned that moving residents to another facility or shelter in times of disaster is not the best way to look out for their safety,” Dorman said. “Though we were fortunate to avoid any deaths associated with assisted living facilities during that ice storm, the risk was there in facilities that chose to evacuate their residents. I think this legislation will ensure better protection of the vulnerable residents who stay in these facilities.”

House Bill 2002 passed out of the Long-term Care and Senior Services Committee by a vote of 7-1 on Feb. 22.

“I have agreed to work with the legislators on any concerns which might unduly burden a business,” said Dorman. “We certainly do not want to force a business into a strapped financial situation, but we also want to make it clear that these seniors need to be a top priority of concern for our state.”

Source: Oklahoma House of Representatives