Family update, July 3, 2012, 9 a.m.
Breaking news: Power was restored to our Wasserman Residence at about 4 a.m. this morning. Ring
House, Revitz House and Landow House had power restored yesterday, Monday; the Smith-Kogod
Residence had power restored shortly after the storm. All our residences are now back online.
What Charles E. Smith Life Communities has been doing during this weather-related regional outage:
All of our key clinical and administrative staff were on site throughout the weekend, and continued on
duty throughout the weather-related emergency. The health and well-being of our residents is our
primary concern.
All of our senior residences have emergency back-up systems. These systems went into operation, and
essential services continued uninterrupted, including nursing, clinical and medical care and food,
nutrition and hydration services.
Our nursing home, which houses our frailest residents, had full power restored following the storm. On
midday Sunday, our Wasserman Residence lost one-third power and lost air-conditioning. Using the
areas of the building which could be cooled, we set up cooling centers for resident comfort.
We moved the most vulnerable residents from our independent and assisted residences into the nursing
home for care during the outage. There were no heat-related clinical issues reported.
We took several steps to assist our more independent residents, including:
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We invited residents to come to the nursing home to spend time in the cool environment.
We provided supplemental meals in Revitz House and extended meal service hours at Ring.
We took residents on trips to a nearby mall and to the movies, which were air-conditioned.
Our engineering staff was able to circulate some cooler air.
We kept families informed of the situation through our website and facebook site, and we
welcomed those who had power in their homes to have their loved ones join them there.
Many of our families have expressed the belief that our campus should be a priority for PEPCO to
restore power. We agree; throughout the outage, we remained in close communication with PEPCO,
and with local officials, including the health department.
We wish to thank our staff for their stellar dedication and diligence during this regional power outage.
Many left their own families and difficult situations in their own homes to spend long hours here,
making our residents’ care their priority.