The deaths of 12 patients at a Hollywood nursing home following Hurricane Irma were preventable and should never have happened. Yet they did. But why? And what can you do to make sure this will not happen before you move your loved one into a nursing home?

No one can promise that there won’t be some kind of natural disaster. What you want to know is this: Are they prepared?

Most people don’t know what to ask when “shopping” for facilities. If anyone had looked deeper into the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, they would have found that its owner, The Larkin Group, was among defendants who paid $15.4 million in 2006 to settle federal and state civil claims for paying kickbacks to doctors in exchange for patient admissions, a fact revealed by the New York Times.

They would have found out how many times they were cited for numerous deficiencies in patient care, including for a generator issue.

Federal law currently requires nursing homes to keep temperatures in a “safe and comfortable range,” but this rule only applies to skilled facilities certified after Oct. 1990. This law changes in November to clearly state that temperatures need to be between 71-81 degrees and the facility must have a backup power source. But will facilities comply? The good ones will.

When looking for a skilled nursing facility, consider the number of total patients there. Larger facilities are harder to staff. Don’t settle for the pat answer “we meet state guidelines for staffing.” Ask for specific staffing ratios such as number of certified nursing assistants per patient and the same for nurses. Is there at least one registered on every shift, especially at night?

Every facility keeps track of their turnover rate. Ask what theirs is for each category. Make sure to meet the licensed health care administrator and find out how long they have been on the job and the depth of their experience.

Get the medical director’s name and meet the person if you can. Do a background check. Ask questions such as, have they been sued and for what? How long have they been employed? How many hours a week are they on site?

What corporation owns them and are they a division or is there a parent company? Have they been sued, or settled claims of Medicare fraud, patient death or neglect? Is there a repeated pattern of deficiencies? Is the facility spotless? Odor free?

Make sure to visit unannounced, especially on a weekend when you can chat with other visiting family members. Ask them questions about the care their family member is receiving.

Try the food. What a facility spends on food is a good indicator of how much they are committed to a quality lifestyle. Look around the dining room and see if the patients are eating, how the staff is treating them and if they are talking or silent.

Ask to see their emergency plan. After Hurricane Irma they should be more than ready to comply. Ask, what if they had to evacuate? Do they have an arrangement with another facility and where is it? Are they complying with the November federal law about a backup power source? Do they have generators now and are they large enough? Do they have food and water for 72 hours?

Try to move your parent or loved one nearby. Visit as frequently as possible. It will make a huge difference if the staff knows you are paying close attention.

Look up any skilled nursing facility online to see how they are rated at www.medicare.gov/NursingHomeCompare/profile.html. Try to find a nursing home that has a even balance of both Medicare and Medicaid patients.

With 683 skilled nursing homes in Florida and 3,100 assisted living facilities with more than 183,000 patients combined, guaranteeing excellent care is a challenge. But you can screen out the worst facilities with some homework.

Most importantly, you will have the peace of mind that you have done your best to find a nursing home that will provide good quality care to someone you love.