House commission reviews Senate Project 149 to tighten emergency-planning requirements for licensed eldercare facilities

The House of Representatives Commission on Older Adults and Social Welfare on Friday, May 2, 2025, heard testimony on Senate Project 149, which would amend Law No. 94 (June 22, 1977) to require licensed long‑term care facilities in Puerto Rico to submit annual, department‑approved contingency plans for hurricanes and other emergencies. No committee vote was taken at the hearing.

The measure would add details for contingency plans — including provisions to operate without electricity or potable water and protocols for supplies, medications, staffing and resident movement — and, as drafted, calls for planning for up to 30 days of disruption. That proposed 30‑day planning horizon prompted discussion about possible conflicts with existing law and the capacity of facilities to comply.

Susan Roy, Secretary of the Department of the Family, told the commission that the department has begun an islandwide census of licensed homes and is visiting each facility "para validar la ubicación geográfica de este hogar como cisternas y generadores eléctricos" and to document what residents depend on electrical devices. "El día de ayer inició un censo a nivel isla de todos los hogares licenciados para adultos mayores por el departamento de la familia," Roy said, adding the exercise is intended to produce an updated inventory and to accelerate compliance checks ahead of hurricane season.

Francis Vidal Rodríguez, appearing for Yolanda Varela, the procuradora for the Office of the Procurador for Older Persons (OPEA), said the OPEA…