How to retrofit a nursing home full of patients, according to NFPA Journal

In 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began requiring nursing homes without sprinkler systems, or with inadequate systems, to retrofit them. The new rule, which reflected changes made in the 2006 edition of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, called for upgrades to be completed by August 13, 2013. Facilities that failed to meet the deadline risked penalties, ranging from violation notices to withholding Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. In an article in the latest issue of NFPA Journal, Ashley Smith details how one such nursing home, Marquis Mt. Tabor in Portland, Oregon, rose to the challenge and completed...