Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to block a California law from taking effect next year that will require nursing homes to have a 96-hour backup power supply, potentially giving the industry a reprieve from having to spend over $1 billion in capital investments.
The Democratic governor tucked the suspension into his budget update to address a projected $12 billion state deficit. If lawmakers go along, it will be the second time nursing homes have forestalled spending on generators or other power supplies required to keep ventilators, feeding and IV pumps, and medication dispensing machines running during emergencies, such as wildfires.
“Really? After what just happened earlier this year in Los Angeles, we think fire safety and emergency preparedness is where we want to make cuts?” said Tony Chicotel, a senior staff attorney with the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. “The timing is really just shocking.”
California law requires skilled nursing facilities to provide six hours of backup power, from generators or other sources, to run heating and cooling systems and lifesaving medical equipment when utilities shut off power to prevent wildfires or when power is lost. Federal guidelines require nursing homes to have emergency response plans that include backup power or building evacuation.
Starting next year, most of California’s roughly 1,200 facilities must extend their backup power capability to 96 hours under AB 2511, which lawmakers passed and Newsom signed in 2022. The bill was a victory for patient advocates who for years had urged the state to stretch the requirement, with power shutoffs becoming more frequent and lasting longer. Shutoffs in October 2019 lasted days, cutting power to more than 100 nursing homes in the state.
The…
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