Loading...
Item L06 Board of County Commissioners Agenda Item Summary Meeting Date February 13 2002 Bulk Item: Yes [] No III Division: Board of County Commissioners Department: George R. Neugent AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Having served with, (during Hurricane Michelle) the different entities that make up the EOC operations and after attending the post hurricane de briefing I feel an appropriate accounting to the Board of County Commissioners is in order. Specifically (a) evacuation of special needs residents (b) who will pay for the cost of ~ation of special needs residents (c) resolution to keep a hospital open in Monroe County during & thrpugh a hurricane. .' ITEM BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: CONTRACT I AGREEMENT CHANGES: STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: TOTAL COST: BUDGETED: YES [] NO [] COST TO COUNTY: $ ~ 1\ REVENUE PRODUCING: YES [] NO m AMT PER MONTH: YEAR: APPROVED BY: C OMB/PURCHASING [] RISK MANAGEMENT [] APPROVAL: DOCUMENTATION: INCLUDED [] TO FOLLOW [] NOT REQUIRED [] DISPosmON: AGENDA ITEM # /-L~ Please find below a list of concerns regarding response to Hurricane Michelle that I discussed during the County review on December 14th. I will be happy to meet with your staff to discuss these issues and assist with any recommended adjustments. . Conference calls between the County EOC and all effected jurisdictions including all municipalities had no agendas and lacked moderation. leadership, or direction from the EOC incident manager. It was always understood that the conference calls would be used to coordinate last minute issues or disseminate critical information. Why were municipal politicians on the conference calls? The conference caUs essentially turned into a strategy meeting to determine operational policy, That should have been done in the EOC promulgated through approved plans and policy direction from the County Mayor or designee. I believe that the way the conference call was used at this event encourages no liaison or rep's from other jurisdictions that may have sent someone to the EOC. 'Why go to the EOC if you can do it over the phonel" . The Snake Creek drawbridge had not been locked down until 8 am on Sunday, 14 hours after the first phase on the general evacuation, which started 6 pm on Saturday. The drawbridge was not allowed to be un-locked by DOT until Tropjcal Storm Warnings were lifted. Monday 1 pm. If thafs the case then why was the bridge not automatically locked down by DOT on Saturday at 4 am when TS Warnings were issued for the entire Florida Keys. What's important is that the Snake Creek Bridge has, several times, been stuck in the open position for several hours due to high winds. . A decision was made by the EOC to "lift" the evacuation order on Sunday night at 4:30 pm. If all fundamental decisions are made based on arrival of tropical storm conditions then why was the evacuation lifted when the Keys were still under a Hurricane Waming till 1 am Monday and the Tropical Storm Warnings were not discontinued until 1 pm on Monday. The procedure should have been that the evacuation "suspend~" by the same evacuation phases, "tenninated" due to weather predictions and/or conditions and "Ji&m.: to allow safe re-entry back into the Keys. Page2of3 Also, if a general evacuation is in place why was traffic allowed Southbound into the Keys? All contradicting! . On Sunday the 4th. Our EMS Shift Commander informed me in writing that he made contact with Mariners Hospital regarding the evacuation and that Mariners advised him that their hospital would be closed starting at 7pm due to the evacuation. Mariners Hospital actually closed at 5pm. If the hospital closes due to their staff evacuation then I recommend that the County Emergency Management request from the State EOC a "Disaster Emergency Medical Assistants Team" ("DEMAr') be assigned to the facility to keep it open. I can hardly believe that all three county hospitals close and leave the local EMS with essentially no hospital emergency care! . The three County nursing homes, Upper, Middle, and Lower Keys are owned by the same owner. A decision was made by the owner to evacuate the Lower and Middle Keys occupants to their PK facility increasing the occupancy to a total of 257. which normally holds +/- 75 patents. Keep in mind that there was no hospital avail"ble within Monroe County. Nursing homes under Florida Statutes are required to have a hurricane plan that addresses the evacuation. sheltering and care of their patients when necessary. These occupants were loaded and transported in Monroe County school buses. Keep In mind that it takes a few hours to load these patents, at least an hour to transport them to the facility, and three hours to unload them, Also. keep in mind that a school bus is not a soft stable riding vehicle and most of the occupants were elderly and extremely frail. It should be noted that with our Fire Rescue staff trained in handling and moving patents still took three hours to unload the buses. How long would it have taken if we did not help? I also had our personnel don disposable bio outfits to protect them from the excess body waste due to the lengthy time they spent on the buses. Is the nursing home staff trained in driving school buses? (Our staff had to assist them with actually driving the bus to back it into the unloading area) Did they train on this evacuation plan? Did the County approve it? . The Village's liaison for the County EOC had no initial status briefing or any other EOC briefings during the event. The County's EOC was designed to operate under a national accepted standard: Emergency Operations Center/Incident Command Interface. There seemed to be confusion as to how the four General staff functions described under leS, (Operations, Planning, Logistics, and Finance/Administration) are to function. There are many other concerns regarding the EOC operations that our liaison listed and I would like to have the opportunity to discuss them with you.. . The County designated "Refuges of Last Resort" apparently had not been coordinated annually by the County with the property owners or managers. The Cheeca Lodge Is on the County list and when our staff informed them that their faCility may be used they were not aware of their obligation. I will contact the owners and/or managers to coordinate it within the Village on all designated -Refuges of Last Resort" and request assistance from your staff. Page 3 of3 I am very concerned that there was over 250 nursing home patents in the County when there was a mandatory evacuation. no hospital and a major hurricane forecasted. Once again our local EMS would have been on their own. . The Emergency Alert System (EAS) was not activated to notify the public. And, no alerts from the NOAA weather alerting system for the weather warnings. I truly believe that this and no suspension of the southbound traffic during the evacuation contributed to the lack of evacuation response from the population. Thank you! Cc: louis Latorre, Monroe County Social Service Director Irene Toner. Monroe County Emergency Management PRESENTATIONS SCHEDULE Presentations will be conducted in the following order: 1 William A. Wagner, Jr., Sr. Director, Emergency Management 2 James R. Paros, Director, Public Safety 3 Bill McDonald, Colonel, Sheriff's Office 4 Tom Cullen - Incident Manager - Bravo Shift 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Representative/s - Operations Section v Representative/s - Logistics Section-- Representative/s - Planning Section".. Representative/s - Law Enforcement Representative/s - Emergency Information Hotline Representative/s - Public Information Representative/s - Emergency Medical Services Representative/s - Social Services Representative/s - Hospitals Representative/s - School Board Representative/s - Country Health Network Representative/s - Communications Department Representative/s - Utilities Representative/s - Shelters - County and FlU Representative/s - Monroe County Health Department Representative/s - U.S. Coast Guard Representative/s - U.S. Navy Representative/s - American Red Cross Representative/s - The Salvation Army Representative/s - City of Key West Representative/s - City of Marathon ..- Representative/s - Village of Islamorada ,,/ Representative/s - City of Layton .......' Representative/s - City of Key Colony Beach........-- Representative/s - Ocean Reef Club- Representative/s - State Parks Representative/s - Florida Department of Transportation Other Guests " 5 r<'v~\ ~ PLEASE LIMIT YOUR PRESENTATION TO NO MORE THAN 10 MINUTES .,L (f..1,)1 1.J'ii j-J<Ui-i,NUNh'OE CUUNIY '.\1).'; \.H-, ,,_,--- lU J'ilS:.<'>:J:.<'.J'e>.lc, ? r,1,; L 4/:":' OUNTYoCMONROE IlIYWUT ~ '~IID'~ C8! a.......' BOARb Of rouN'TY g)MMISSIONERS MAYOR 0IarIcII"SaM( 1kC"".l)ittrict 3 tkrfor Prv tem Dixie Sptlhar. Di.trlc;t 1 MJ.JrTfI( NcIfOt1. District 5 6corge Neugcnt.l)iifricfz NoN Will~. District <4 Office of th& eoul\ty Attonlcy P.O. Box 1026 ICey Wc:$t, FL 3304L.10::6 305/292.a470 . Phone 305/292-3516 - FQ.I( . MEMORANDUM t FROM: Louis La T OlTe, Director Social Services Suzanne A. Hutton ~ Assistant County Attorney TO: DATE: November 26,2001 SUBJECT: Nursing Home Evacuation Agreement You have faxed to me a copy of the Monroe County School Boards November 14 letter to you requesting and recommending that the County terminate its contract with the proprietor of the three nursing home:; with which we have agreed to provide 15 of the school buses which we are able to access ti)r purposes of evacuating special needs citizens. Obviously, the lener makes a strong case for tennination of the contract entered June 18. 1997 between the County and Golden Leaf Managemcmt, Inc., which manages the convalescent centers in Key West, Marathon. and Plantation Key, OUf agreement calls for us to provide 10-15 buses as long as the institution is in compliance with p,U'agraph B of Article n of the agreement. That paragraph says that the institution shall ma~ntain a current file with the Social Services Department regarding insurance and license information on the drivers to be used. Further. the institution is required to retum the vehicles in as good condition as delivered to the institution, with full fuel tanks and all fluid levels filled to the r:umufacturer's recommended levels, Article V of the a~.reement allows for tennination by either party upon at least 120 days prior written notice to the other.' Therefore, it is my recommendation that the School Boards letter be placed on tht~ ne>1 County Commission agenda with a request to terminate the existing agreement, giving notice as soon as possible, so that the institution has plenty of time before next hurricane season tu make alternative arrangements. To facilitate your efforts in this area. I am enclosing a propoSt~d resolution, If you have any qUI~stions. please call. Enclosure . ~_ l . 4: i<) i i.J 1 L t- k \.J j,'1 ' i'l U i'U< U L ;~. U .,J i";' .~ ....,}, J 1 ,j i - i. '>_ i . , .' -, -..- ."" ,~/ .J V ..J L __/..( ,... ..) ;;. '...' 1~\t..L o~'!!:" -?~~~E t3lr.l1 ir.14 ~ 1 Social Services Oepa&tJllel1t S 100 College Road, Wing HI Key West, FL 33041J (305) 292-4573 (30S) 292-4517 FAX BqARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Dixie Spehar, Distria I MA YOR GC01'l1l Neuscnt, District 2 Charlb "Sonny" Ml:Coy. Disu-ict 3 Mayor Pro Tem NO(:l WiIIWns. Diarict 4 MumI)' E. Nel~n, District :j . TO; MEMORANDUM James L. Robert5 County Administrator James E. Mallocn, Di.~'ector Community Services Louis LaTorre, o'recto~ ~~ S~cial Services ~~~ . ~ IE (~- '9' IT ",'" :,. '; DI:... 14 ZOOl jJ 'l'HRU : FROM: -4- N~vember 30, 2001 Letter from School Board/Contract with Nursing Homes Monroe county e~tered into a c~;tract with the three nursing homes on June 1997, for the purpose of using school buses from Monroe County School Board through Monroe county Board of County C:>mmission. The purpose was foz: evacuation of the three N'l.lrsing Homes out of county to Broward, only in a category 3 storm or greater. Since entering the agree-ment:, staff (b.:>th County and School Board), have spent a lot of stafr t:Llue yearly, in dealing with the various issues and problems c.:mcerning the contracts. Not only have the Nursing Homes not complied with the terms of the contract, but they mat have exposed the County to additional liability by utili.:in,3' drivers who were not approved by th(~ County and may not have been properly licensed. Their performance under t.his agreement for Bf~veral years has not been satiafact:orr in the same way as described in the School Board le-t: te c. DATE; RE: The thre:u Nursing Homes are owned and operated by a private fol;' profit entity and managed by a eeparate for profit entity. Th,~y ar~ required by law to have an evacuation plan that should be their own responsibility and not that of the County. Based on th,~ above and the complaints from the school Board, I agree wit;l the recommendation to terminate the agreement. Please :;;E~e attached correspondf:!nce and advise me what steps should bf:! t,!ken at this point. Board of County Commissionus RESOLUTION NO. -2002 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY. FLORIDA TO GIVE NOTICE TO GOLDEN LEAF MANASEMENT. INC. TO TERMINATE THE EVACUATION AGREEMENT WHEREAS. on Septanber 8, 1999. Monroe County. Golden Leaf MGnagcment, Inc. and County Health Associates, Inc:, entered into an agreement whereby the evacuation transportation agreement of June 18,1997 was assigned to Country Health Associates, Inc.; and WHEREAS, the County has an inter local agreement with the Monroe County District School Board to obtain school buses for evacuation of persons who have special needs or who are medically needy or transportation disadvantaged; and WHEREAS, said inter local agreement expressly allows the County to enter into agruments for use of said buses for hurricane evacuation; and WHEREAS, Golden Leaf Management, Inc. manages the Key West Convalescent Center, Marathon Manor Convalescent Center, and Plantation Key Convalescent Center; and WHEREAS, the County entered into an agreement to provide 10-15 school buses for evacuation purposes in the event of hurricane category 3 and above strength storms; and WHEREAS, the School Board ho.s notified the County of breaches of the agreement which the County has with the management company for the nursing homes; and WHEREAS, County staff, School Boord officials and the management company hove met to resolve the issues; now, therefore BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSXONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA that: /-/vs Pursuant to Article V of the original ogreement, Country Health Associates, Inc. sholl be given 120 days notice of the County's termination of soid agreement. This termination shall take effect unless an Amended Agreement becomes effective prior to the termination date resulting from said notice. PASSEb AND AbOPTEb by the Boord of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida, at a regular meeting of said Board held on the day of 2002. Mayor Charles McCoy Mayor Pro Tern Dixie Spehar Commissioner Murray Nelson Commissioner George Neugent ComMissioner Nora Williams (SEAL) Attest; DANNY LKOLHAGE, Clerk BOARD OF COUNlY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNlY, FLORIDA " By By Deputy Clerk Mayor/Chairperson Jdru60ldenCountry ,1 13,11 F~Or1,MONROE COUNl'>: All'. UFFl"';L JU JIiJ~L~:':.J~Jb .t_i~l..t:. L. / ~ Office of Support Services Administration Building 241 Trumbo fW.. P.D Box 1788 1<1?' Wcst, FL 33041 Bob Menendez Executive Director November 14,2001 Mr. Louis laTorre MomQC COWlty So,~ia1 Services Department 1100 Simonton Stn:et Key West, FI :33040 Dear Mr. LaTorre: On behalf of the Monroe County School Hoard I wanted to personallf1bank You'and your staff for tbeir cooperation and commitment 10 our special needs citizens. I would also like to inform you and the Board of County Commissioners of our dissatisfaction with the use and abuse of Monroe COWlty School busses during Hurricane Michelle. After a thorough investigation we have discovered the following problems with our returned buses from the nursing homes; I Key West A~ One bWi was used but was returned trashed. Cups, sheets and cigarette butts were found throughout the bus. It took transportation personnell Y300urs to clean the bus, not to mention the School Board policy violation of smoking on the bus. , M~thon Area I I nlI~ bU:;e8 were issued for this ~a. The nursing home sent three dIivcrs to pick up our buses. Two of these drivers ~ere employ~s of the MoJUUC County School Board Transportlltion Department and wen: certified drivers. MIj5' COMic Fahey, Director ofTram:portation was under the asswTll'tiocc that OUt certified dri~ers would be driving the buses for the evacuation. During the in..estigation we havc lJamed tbat our drive~ were relt:~ at Marathon Manor. TIlis m~UlS that whoever drove th9se busts were not certified to drive and the School Board was totally mi:lIed by this action. Thi . . table and will nol be tolerated. a c-<.C. C; I ... \Q' CI . 0 ; ;. ~ I ill. hI E-mail: monrezb@lnonroe.kI2.ft.US (JOS)29J-1400.~.324 - .. Fax (305) 293-1408 J I I 3 ~ I I t~ l<!Ul'. ,11UNh'UE ,_ U UN I 'j 1'\ r I. V} i' ) L L ; U .J1iJS:L::Li3S Jb PAl.E 3/ S UPper K~~..&n Two buses were given out for this area. We sustained the most Wunage with these buses. The back doul' bu;:zers were disabled. This is a violation of State Law. The swing arms On the back of the doors 'Nel'e removed and not placed back on the door. A bus radio was severely damaged which will cost approximately $500 to repair. In addition to these issues the Director of Transportation. Mrs. Connie Fahey, along with staff spend several hours waiting for the nursing home to send a certified person to pick up a bus. We were 011$0 assured that OUr busses would be letumed in good. clean condition and as you can determine from this inve~igation, they were a mess. It is m} rec~mmendation. based or previous issues with Hurricane Georges and now with Hurricane MicheJll:, milt the Board of County Conunissioners tenninare their contract with the , proprietor of lhese nursing homes. I " The proprietor of these nursing h~es is a Jiability to the Board of County Commissioner~ anct the Monroe County rhool Board, Please tenninate this contract. Sjnc~rely. I ~...-. Ex~utive Director .---' cc: Michat:1 Lannon. SUperintendent COIUlie Fahey, Transportation Director Jim Robl:rts, County Administrator .