News

The Long-Term Care Imperative (LTCI) is soliciting proposals from qualified and experienced communications firms to design, plan, and administer a statewide campaign, paired with developing a robust website of resources, to attract new caregivers into Minnesota’s aging services organizations. The goal of the project is to increase the number of available caregivers in Minnesota’s aging services workforce to improve residents’ quality of life in the places they call home.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Deadline for Bids: Noon, 12:00pm, Friday, March 31

The LTCI is a collaboration of LeadingAge Minnesota and Care Providers of Minnesota, the state’s two largest associations of long-term care organizations. This project is supported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Long-Term Care (LTC) Workforce Capacity Building Project.

Over 100 members came together this week at LeadingAge Minnesota’s Day at the Capitol, the first in-person day since 2019 after years of COVID-related restrictions. The strong showing illustrates that members understand the importance of speaking up and sharing their stories.

Earlier this week, Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office informed LeadingAge that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will tell states with cost-based care center payment systems like Minnesota’s to treat Employee Retention Credit (ERC) funds like other federal CARES Act relief funds.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) will hold quarterly webinars for anyone interested in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS). This webinar series will replace and expand the work formerly done by the DWRS Advisory Committee. The webinars will be held on the State TrainLink platform. Instructions to register for the webinars are on the DHS website.

Around the state, LeadingAge Minnesota members have been lifting their voices and sharing their stories in the media to advance our goal of supporting seniors and their caregivers through legislative action.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is starting to share the preliminary resident quality of life results from the current round of surveys.  Care centers can visit the DHS Provider Portal, click the Resident Quality of Life Ratings tab, and finally, the 2022 Observed Quality of Life Scores link.

On March 9, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the Annual Adjustment Factors (AAFs) for 2023, which adjusts rents for certain Section 8 housing assistance payment programs.

This past week Argentum held its annual Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.  The public policy event started on Monday afternoon and culminated with staff advocacy visits with Congressional officials in both the U.S. Senate and House on Wednesday.

A bill introduced by US Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jon Tester (D-MT), along with Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) to add assisted living services to veterans benefits.

Temporary nurse aides who worked under the 1135 CMS waiver have until Aug. 5 to be placed on the Nursing Assistant Registry. OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training is here to help providers with this transition process.

Through our partnership with the Performance Excellence Network (PEN), LeadingAge Minnesota members receive discounted registration for the May 4 PENworks Conference.  Early bird registration ends March 31 for this event focused on continuous improvement and organizational excellence.

Careers in Aging Week is just two weeks away. Held from March 26 – April 1, Careers in Aging Week brings greater awareness and visibility to the wide-ranging career opportunities in our field while engaging the community. The Gerontological Society of America Innovation Fund annually hosts Careers in Aging Week with support from several aging services organizations.

Jennifer Marcus of Vista Prairie Communities has been promoted to the newly created position of Regional Director of Operations within her organization.

Join us for a 30-minute information session to learn how to bring together a team or front-line staff to participate in the 2023 ICan Contest.  The contest involves developing and implementing Quality Improvement projects identified and led by front-line staff.

Erin Shvetzoff Hennessey, CEO of HDG and LeadingAge Minnesota Board Member, was included in Modern Healthcare’s Top Women Leaders of 2023 list. This award honors female executives from all sectors of the healthcare system who are developing policy, leading change, and guiding healthcare delivery improvement across the country.