Committee Approves Report on Construction in Flood-prone Areas

At its Aug. 15 meeting, the Public Health and Health Planning Council’s (PHHPC) Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Environmental and Construction Standards approved a draft report with recommendations on new and existing facilities located in flood-prone areas. Among other things, the committee recommended lifting the current Certificate of Need moratorium on approving construction projects in flood zones when the report is accepted by the full PHHPC.

The draft report includes the following major recommendations:
 

1. update the DOH regulations governing new construction and major renovation to refer to the “500-year crest level” rather than the “100-year crest level”;
2. require additional mitigation and resiliency requirements for new construction including flood resistant emergency generators and fuel supplies;
3. require accessibility of patient information through the eFind Patient Tracking System and interoperable medical information; and
4. encourage existing providers to harden the resiliency of their facilities through by adopting best mitigation practices on a voluntary basis.
    

LeadingAge New York expressed general support for the draft recommendations, but raised concerns about the availability of capital funding to nursing homes, ACFs and ALPs for needed construction upgrades and the lack of current support for electronic medical record deployment in nursing homes. Additional opportunities for input will be offered as the report will be presented during the September/October PHHPC meeting cycle, and subsequently to the Codes and Regulations Committee and full PHHPC for action on any regulatory changes. Members are encouraged to review the report and provide LeadingAge New York with feedback on the recommendations.

In May 2013, DOH had announced that there would be a moratorium on new construction and major renovation projects for health care facilities located in costal flood areas. Since that time, the Ad Hoc Committee has been examining the current building, construction and physical plant codes for health care facilities in the wake of extreme weather experienced recently with Hurricanes Irene and Lee and Superstorm Sandy.

Contact: Dan Heim, dheim@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8866