The deadline for health care providers to meet federal disaster preparedness requirements set forth by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Nov. 15, may come too late for some nursing home residents affected by Hurricane Irma in Florida.

Eight residents died at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills following a loss of air conditioning during a power outage that resulted from the storm, and the facility is facing civil litigation alleging negligence and a state criminal investigation in the aftermath.

The new federal rule, which has been years in the making, “incorporates the lessons learned from the past,” a reference to, among other catastrophic weather events, Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing deaths at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center, which have “eerie parallels” to the ones in South Florida, said Troutman Sanders partner Steve Gravely. Gravely specializes in disaster preparedness and response at health care facilities.