Providers are bracing themselves for another hurricane and more tough decisions. Nursing homes are faced with whether to evacuate patients, some connected to feeding tubes and oxygen tanks, or ride out Hurricane Wilma in place. From the Washington Post:
The decision to stay or flee in the event of a hurricane can be difficult even for the able-bodied. But as the evacuations for hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed this year, the decisions made at nursing homes more likely could be a matter of life and death. Several nursing home patients died in Louisiana because they were not evacuated before Katrina hit, and in one case the owners of a home were charged with negligent homicide. On the other hand, several nursing home patients perished because they were evacuated; they died in transit.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Senator Chuck Grassley asked the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate nursing home deaths last month. I blogged about it here. No doubt deaths resulting from Hurricane Wilma will spark more investigations.
Hurricane Wilma struck the Florida mainland this morning.
