Mass. to require info on fire and emergency protocols from hundreds of assisted living homes in the wake of fatal Fall River fire
The homes must also send letters to residents and their families within the next five days that explain fire safety protocols, evacuation procedures and key points of contact for questions or concerns and post evacuation information in all units and common areas.
The fire at the Fall River home, Gabriel House, is still under investigation. About 70 people lived in the home, which served a lower income population. More than 75 percent of the residents there were enrolled in MassHealth. Families of residents described the home as poorly maintained and unclean. Workers said the home didn't conduct fire drills or evacuation training.
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More than 17,000 people in Massachusetts live in assisted living facilities, which provide some personal care support but not the complex medical care available at nursing homes. They are prized for the freedom and choice they offer, but increasingly care for people with significant mobility or cognitive limitations. They are far less regulated by the state than nursing facilities. AGE, which oversees these residences, re-certifies assisted living homes every two years. The Department of Public Health, by contrast, inspects nursing homes every nine to 15 months. Advocates for seniors and some politicians have demanded more robust state oversight over assisted living homes since the fire.
'I think we need to be far more stringent with regulations in this industry, and I thought that long before this fire,' said state Senator Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat, during a meeting Tuesday of a state commission tasked with rethinking state oversight of the industry. 'I only hope that this fire will serve to do what we should have done ten years ago.'
Jason Laughlin can be reached at
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