Fire Code Regulation Is Second Most Prevalent Violation Cited By State’s Inspection Of Personal Care Homes And Assisted Living Facilities

PHILADEPHIA, PA—(April 2009)—Nearly 36 percent of facilities categorized as personal care homes inspected by Pennsylvania state officials in 2007 were deemed to be “unable to evacuate residents from the building quickly in event of fire or other emergency.”

Pennsylvania has over 1,500 facilities officially titled personal care homes, which are responsible for caring for the elderly and those with disabilities.  More than 50,000 individuals live in these facilities, which actually range from a home in your neighborhood to a chain-owned assisted living facility with 100 apartments.

“When these facilities are unable to comply with this requirement they are putting hundreds, if not thousands, of Pennsylvania residents at serious risk,” said Alissa Halperin, Senior Attorney and Deputy Director of Policy Advocacy at the Pennsylvania Health Law Project. The organization is leading an alliance of 30 organizations around the state that are advocating for the DPW to issue new assisted living licensing rules that ensure the care and safety of residents.

The Pennsylvania Assisted Living Consumer Alliance or PALCA (www.paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org) was formed in 2008 after the Assisted Living Licensure Law of 2007 took effect to make sure that new licensing rules -- now under review by DPW -- will be adopted to protect the elderly and those with disabilities who reside in assisted living facilities.

Each year, the Adult Residential Licensing Division, which is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare, inspects these existing facilities to determine if they are in violation of any of the regulations that govern their operations.  Through the Personal Care Home Information Act, the DPW must publish violations found during inspection of any facility.  This information is available by going to the following: http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/ServicesPrograms/PhysicalDisabilities/003670204.htm and clicking on the Personal Care Homes Directory link at the bottom of the page or by clicking on the PALCA web site www.paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org

According to information on DPW’s website, 35.9 percent of the facilities inspected during 2007 were “unable to evacuate residents from the building quickly in event of fire or other emergency.” Violation of components of the licensing code that was written to protect the safety of residents in these facilities is common. And violation of the section of the code that sets the time in which residents must be evacuated was the second-most common violation among the facilities that were inspected.

Many of these facilities were built years ago and are not designed to facilitate easy egress for individuals who may be physically or mentally compromised and are unable to move themselves in any emergency. The Adult Residential Licensing Division specifies a time within which each facility must assure that all its residents are able to exit in an emergency. It is clear from the information listed on the DPW’s website that at least a third of all these facilities were not in compliance in 2007.

Act 56 of 2007 and the draft assisted living regulations authorize consumers with far greater care needs to reside in assisted living facilities. Many existing facilities hope to become re-licensed as assisted living facilities, once the new regulations take effect. Yet, the draft regulations propose no changes in fire safety requirements and no changes in staffing levels (which critically affect the ability for frail residents to safely evacuate).

“If an older facility has a physical design that inhibits quick egress or relocation of residents to a safe area—and many do--compliance will be an ongoing issue.  But, there are two issues here: compliance and the adequacy of the standard against which compliance is being measured. This is why is it so critical that the Commonwealth put in place a new set of regulations that require facilities to come into physical compliance with the recently updated national standards designed specifically to protect assisted living residents,” says Halperin.

Currently, assisted living facilities in Pennsylvania are held to standards applicable more to hotel or dorm rooms than to long-term care facilities providing considerable services to care dependent individuals. PALCA is hoping the final regulations require facilities to come into compliance with current best practices for life and fire safety, as recently adopted and updated by the National Fire Protection Association (www.nfpa.org).

PALCA was formed in 2008 to make sure that new licensing rules for assisted living facilities will protect the elderly and those who reside in assisted living facilities. For more information about the Alliance and the proposed regulations, click on www.paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org