Hurricane Helene Resources

FHCA Communications

Email Alerts

• Hurricane Helene Updates: Facility Re-entry, Indoor Air Quality, Hurricane Recovery Support & More (9/27/24)
• Tropical Storm Helene Updates: Curfew Letter, Overcapacity & More Resources to Prepare (9/25/24)
• Stay Alert Regarding Tropical Cyclone Nine - HFRS Reporting Requirements (9/23/24)

LTC Briefing Calls

• 9/27/24 Recording
• 9/26/24 Recording
• 9/25/24 Recording
• 9/24/24 Recording

Health Facility Reporting System

HFRS Reporting for Hurricane Helene is No Longer Required

Health Facility Reporting System (HFRS)

• Long Term Care Unit: (850) 412-4303 / ltcstaff@ahca.myflorida.com
• Assisted Living Unit: (850) 412-4304 / assistedliving@ahca.myflorida.com
• AHCA Consumer Information Hotline (after hours HFRS assistance):1-888-419-3456
• AHCA HFRS Website

Assistance with Reporting

• Instructional guide for entering information
• Speak to an AHCA staff member during business hours (8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST)
• Email: AHCAEOC@ahca.myflorida.com

State of Emergency

• Executive Order 24-209
• Executive Order 24-208

Generator Fuel Requirement Reminder

Nursing centers and assisted living facilities, within 24 hours, must ensure there is sufficient fuel maintained onsite to power critical life safety equipment and ensure a safe indoor temperature for 96 hours, in accordance with the requirements of the Nursing Home and ALF Emergency Power Rules.

Storm Recovery Assistance

• Florida Division of Emergency Management Recovery Resources
• Activate Hope Disaster Assistance Form
  Serving as the emergency response arm for the Hope Florida initiative, Activate Hope pulls together the private sector, nonprofits, and government resources to help Floridians get back on their feet following a natural disaster. Activate Hope helps connect Floridians with outside resources to provide food, household goods, home repairs, and more. Complete the form.
• Volunteer Florida: Disaster Legal Hotline 833-514-2940 open to assist and refer callers
• Samaritan's Purse hotline: 1-833-747-1234 Free Assistance for homeowners affected by the disaster. Volunteers may be able to assist with removal of personal property and furniture, flood cleanup, sanitizing with shockwave treatment, chainsaw work & Debris Clean-up, temporary roof tarping.
• Red Cross Hotline:1-800-Red Cross
• Florida Baptists Disaster Relief Public Assistance: 904-253-0502 or text Helene to 27123. Free Assistance for homeowners affected by the disaster. Volunteers may be able to assist with Storm Debris Cleanup, Temporary Roof Tarping, Chainsaw work, and muckouts.
• Crisis Cleanup number: 844-965-1386
• A Door of Hope: help for children in crisis
• Babycycle Diaper Bank: provides necessities like diapers, wipes, clean clothing, and other essential items
• Care USA: cash assistance to those affected by Helene
• Family Initiative: serves Taylor and Madison counties on the ground with a Mobil Response Sensory Trailer, giving sensory kits to special needs families impacted by the storm
• Feeding Tampa Bay: works directly with local emergency management operations to provide food, water, and hygiene items to our service area, state, and neighboring states during crises
• Florida Disaster Fund: funds distributed to service organizations that help individuals in communities with disaster response and recovery
• FMB Strong: supports communities in Fort Myers Beach, through food pantry donations, ensuring that no one goes hungry in the aftermath of a disaster
• GoFundMe: general Hurricane Helene relief fund
• Metropolitan Ministries: supports families with the necessary food, water, shelter, and supplies they need
• OneBlood: urgent call for additional blood donations for Helene's victims
• The Salvation Army: donations will help provide emergency aid, food, drinks, emotional and spiritual care, and long-term recovery services to the disaster’s survivors
• Stronger than the Storm: offers kid-friendly resources to help children recover, reconnect, and develop resilience during challenging times before, during, and after disasters
• United Way of Florida: will assist communities in Florida impacted by Helene.

Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services

• 2024 Hurricane Helene Available Waivers for Affected Counties in the State of Florida and Georgia Health Care Providers
• CMS Current Emergencies Webpage

AHCA Regulatory Updates

AHCA Hurricane Helene Webpage

Staff Curfew Travel Letter
Authorizes health care personnel to travel outside of established curfews

• Florida Department of Health, Healthcare Worker Curfew Letter (9/24/24)

Billing During Emergencies
Pursuant to the Medicaid Nursing Facility Services Handbook, if you evacuated your facility without discharging the resident, the originating facility may continue to bill Medicaid for reimbursement and then pay the receiving facility at a contracted rate for its services.

AHCA Key Medicaid Information for Fee-for-Service and Managed Care Providers

• AHCA will waive all prior authorization requirements for critical Medicaid services beginning September 25, 2024, until further notice. 
• Early prescription refill edits have been lifted for all maintenance medications (Note: This does not apply to controlled substances).
• If a recipient requires critical Medicaid services beyond the limits stated in policy to maintain safety and health, providers can furnish the service.
• Transportation vendors should continue providing services to all Medicaid enrollees as long as they are able.

PASSR

• Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) processes are postponed until further notice by the Agency. 
• Retroactively performed screenings or resident reviews must document the reason for delay in the completion of PASRR requirements.
• The Agency is waiving the PASRR process for recipients who evacuated due to an evacuation order or power outage and are admitted and discharged during the storm.

Overcapacity 408.821(2) Florida Statutes
Centers that are serving as receiving sites for facilities that evacuated are reminded that under 408.821(2) Florida Statutes, Providers who plan to exceed their licensed capacity in accordance with their comprehensive emergency management plan for more than 15 days must request approval from AHCA as noted in s. 408.821(2), Florida Statutes. Requests for approval must be submitted to AHCA’s applicable licensing unit to continue at overcapacity. The request should include:

• The name and license number of the overcapacity facility;
• If applicable, the name of the evacuating facility and reason the evacuated facility cannot be occupied;
• Where the residents over licensed capacity are living in the facility (private room converted to semi-private; dining room; other locations in the building);
• A description of how staffing and supplies are maintained for residents over licensed capacity; and
• The total number of residents that the facility will be caring for over its licensed capacity.

Facility Re-entry
AHCA Office of Plans and Construction’s webpage
Nursing centers and ALFs that evacuate and want to re-occupy must ensure the facility is undamaged and all critical systems (e.g. electrical, medical gas, ventilation) are functional and staffing is sufficient. If power is not fully restored, even if generators are operational, facilities must receive approval from their county Emergency Management Offices (EMO) prior to re-entry. This ensures local EMOs are aware of your return should resources need to be diverted to support your center.

Facilities should also report to your county EMO all structural damage, no matter how small or large, for determining cost estimates for emergency management and funds distribution. If the nursing center is damaged, contact the AHCA Office of Plans and Construction (AHCA OPC) at 850-412-4477 to discuss damage and impact prior to re-occupancy.

Facilities with significant damage may need a survey by OPC or Field Operations to reopen, these facilities should provide updates in HFRS and review the Damage Assessment Guidelines 

ALFs with damage should contact their County EMO.

Indoor Air Quality Procedures

• Centers that have experienced undesired water intrusion for extended periods of time can generate conditions which may erode indoor air quality and produce an environment detrimental to patients, residents and health care providers from exposure to mold. Water intrusion may also be caused by problems such as leakage through the roof, exterior walls, and windows, clogged HVAC drain pans, clogged sewage lines, or improperly functioning HVAC equipment that does not maintain proper humidity control within the building envelope. Regardless of the cause, once water has entered the center and wetted building materials, mold growth is likely to occur within 48 to 72 hours if the water is not immediately removed and building materials properly dried.
• AHCA has shared basic procedures centers can review to ensure indoor air quality will not adversely affect the environment of care. Click here to review.

Florida Department of Health Emergency Information

• DOH Emergency Order 24-002 Extending Nursing Home Administrator Licensure Renewal Deadline to October 31, 2024
• Click here for resources and emergency orders

All Hazards After Action Report Templates

• All Hazards Exercise Planning & After Action Report (PDF version)
• All Hazards Exercise Planning & After Action Report (MS Word version)

Nurse Reciprocity

• Florida is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact. The Compact allows a nurse to have one multistate license in the primary state of residence and practice in other Compact states, while subject to each state's practice laws and discipline. Employers can confirm a nurse's license and receive a Licensure QuickConfirm report at www.nursys.com.
• State of Alabama Emergency Order
  Allows for licensed healthcare facilities in Alabama to accepts displaced individuals during Hurricane Helene

Utility Partners/Power Updates

Communicating with Florida’s utility providers during an emergency or during construction projects can be facilitated through online portals.

Utility	Online	Call to Report	App and Text services	LTC Provider Point of Contact
FPL	Updates Outage Reporting Storm Prep	800-4OUTAGE (800-468-8243)	FPL App for iPhone and Android	Tony Tucci tony.tucci@fpl.com
Duke Energy	Updates Outage Reporting	800-228-8485	Duke Energy App for iPhone and Android TEXT OUT to 57801	Michele Cavallo michele.cavallo@duke-energy.com
TECO	Updates	877-588-1010	Text OUT to 35069 or UPDATE to 35069 to receive messages	MaryRose Sirianni msirianni@tecoenergy.com
JEA	Online here	(904) 665-6000 or (904) 665-6250		Donna Parker parkerdr@jea.com

Emergency Response & Recovery Vendors

• FHCA Digital Directory Disaster Recovery & Preparedness Partners
• BELFR Property Restoration
• BlueTeam
• Cotton GDS
• LTC Power Solutions
• SERVPro (800-737-8776)
• Unified Power

Resource Links

• ESRD Network: 800-826-3773
• Dialysis Patient Assistance Hotlines
• Kidney Community Emergency Response (KCER)
• Accentra Health (formerly KEPRO) Hurricane Info for Medicare beneficiaries and providers
• FHCA Tools & Resources
• FHCA Emergency Planning Tips
• LTC Facility Hurricane Planning Checklist
• Plant Operations Hurricane Planning Checklist
• All Hazards Exercise Planning & After Action Report (PDF version)
• All Hazards Exercise Planning & After Action Report (MS Word version)

Transportation

• Road Monitoring (FL511)
• Traffic Updates from FloridaDisaster.org
• Waze - Real-time traffic help from other drivers 
• Gas Buddy - Find local stations with gas

Consumer Resources

• American Red Cross - Find Open Shelters
• Information for People with Disabilities/Special Needs and Their Families