In response to its discovery of outdated generators in LA County, Powered for Patients teamed up with the California Society of Healthcare Engineering to convene an expert’s panel that took place on Dec. 4. Panelists discussed the LA County findings, the risks associated with outdated healthcare facility generators and potential mitigation strategies. Panelists included experts on federal and state generator performance and testing requirements for hospitals and nursing homes, hospital facility directors and generator service providers.
One panelist, Robert Solomon, P.E., chief development officer in the Boston, Massachusetts office for SOCOTEC, suggested it may be time to consider different or enhanced testing of aging emergency power system components.
“When CMS first published its proposed Emergency Preparedness Rule, generator age wasn’t a consideration, and at the time as well as now, neither NFPA 99 or NFPA 110 had any limits on the life span of the generator components,” said Solomon. “The inspection, testing and maintenance requirements embodied in NFPA 110 have been seen as the best way to safeguard against generator failures. In retrospect, given the discovery of older generators in LA County, generator component age is something that I believe should be evaluated for future code changes and state or federal regulation.”
The LA County findings have spurred another proposed change to NFPA 110. During the August 2025 meeting of the NFPA 110 Technical Committee, a committee member, Skip Gregory, AIA, who was on the Dec. 4 panel, reported on the discovery of outdated generators in LA County, which prompted a proposed new annex section (Annex D) for the next edition of NFPA 110. The Annex language, as proposed, would, among other things, call attention to the need to provide additional scrutiny to older components of an emergency power supply system that may be approaching or even past their expected life cycle.
Among the recommendations that emerged from the panel is requiring single-generator hospitals to install quick-connect devices that would allow a rapid connection of a temporary generator. Panelists also discussed requiring single-generator hospitals to install commonly available monitoring equipment that would provide an automated, real-time alert to designated individuals anytime the generator experiences a problem while operating. In addition, tanks of diesel fuel should be properly treated to prevent bacterial growth that can hinder operation of generators.
“Aging hospital infrastructure is a challenge facing virtually every hospital across the country, and so we applaud the LA County EMS Agency and Powered for Patients for their model work addressing emergency power vulnerabilities,” said Joe Brothman, director of general services at UCI Medical Center. “It’s important that experts and policy makers continue to have conversations about the challenges hospitals face in safeguarding emergency power and whether the current regulatory framework adequately addresses the risks posed to patients from outdated emergency power systems.”
P4P has added a number of resources to its website to help jurisdictions assess and mitigate vulnerabilities, including Good, Better, and Best Guide to Bolstering Emergency Power Resilience, an Emergency Power Resilience Resource Kit and guidance on conducting a census of emergency power systems in hospitals and nursing homes.
