News

Too often, the loudest voices in senior care focus on challenges and shortcomings. But across Minnesota, providers are demonstrating excellence, innovation, and high performance. Our new series, Quality in Action, aims to spotlight these success stories—highlighting senior care organizations that are achieving exceptional results through their commitment to quality and safety.

The Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has been accepting grant request applications for its workplace Ergonomic Safety Grant Program since summer 2023. To date, 75 of 79 awarded grants have been provided to nursing home applicants with several more requests due to be awarded soon.

During a roundtable on Tuesday, April 15, Governor Tim Walz said: “If you think we’re in a crisis now, especially for seniors living in rural Minnesota, cut Medicaid and find out what happens. There’s no way the state of Minnesota can come close to back filing what’s lost.”

On April 7, 2025, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk (TX) ruled in favor of the American Health Care Association, LeadingAge, and four nursing homes, finding that CMS exceeded its authority by imposing a federal minimum staffing mandate on nursing homes.

This week, LeadingAge Minnesota members headed to our nation’s Capital to advocate on behalf of aging services providers and the seniors we serve.

This week, lawmakers worked long hours to construct budget bills that direct spending and cuts over the next two years.

Data submission for Quarter 1, 2025 is now open through April 30 in the LeadingAge Minnesota Data Portal. Take advantage of this opportunity to track your operational performance over time and benchmark your data against others at the state, regional and other comparison groups, such as groups with similar capacity and services.

In case you missed it, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation (LAMF) is offering over $55,000 in educational scholarships to eligible caregivers and other employees of our member organizations for 2025.

Late last week, the House and Senate released budget targets with significant differences. The House proposes $1.1B in cuts this biennium, compared to $754M from the Senate. Those gaps widen in FY2028–29: $2.6B vs. $1.7B, respectively.

OnTrack’s impact is broadening its reach beyond Minnesota. As healthcare employers embrace international recruitment to address workforce shortages, OnTrack International is preparing international candidates before they arrive in Minnesota.

This week, legislation that would establish implementation timelines for Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly received hearings in the House and Senate Committees on Human Services. Testimony on the bill featured speakers from LeadingAge Minnesota members including Presbyterian Homes and Volunteers of America. 

Late last week, Governor Walz released his revised budget proposal for the next two years, which continues to propose balancing the state budget on the backs of seniors and those who care for them.

Three new resources have recently been added to the Governance Resource Center to use with your nonprofit governing board. These resources are free of charge to LeadingAge Minnesota Members with your member login required.

On Wednesday, more than 100 LeadingAge Minnesota members gathered at the Fairview Community Health and Wellness Hub for our annual Day at the Capitol. This event provided a crucial opportunity for members to engage with legislators and advocate for key issues affecting long-term care providers and the individuals they serve.

This was a big week at the Legislature, with committees speeding toward an April 3^rd deadline to hear all policy-related bills hoping to be passed this year. LeadingAge Minnesota and its Imperative partner provided testimony and feedback on ten bills this week, including three legislative priorities on our 2025 agenda.

Next Thursday, March 20, is the deadline for registering a team for this year’s ICan Quality Improvement Contest. The contest involves developing and implementing a Quality Improvement project identified and led by front-line staff.

DHS recently updated the provider associations on the financially distressed nursing facility program. That program was created by the 2023 Legislature to provide interest free loans to nursing facilities that are at risk of closure due to operating losses. DHS has now worked through the first round of applications for those funds.

On Tuesday, the U.S. House passed its desired continuing resolution (CR) to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September on a vote of 217-213.

Minnesota lawmakers received an updated budget forecast today that increases the chances that they will need to consider budget cuts to address future deficits. The forecast predicts a $456 Million surplus by the end of June 2027, down by $150 million since the last forecast in November of last year.

The LTC Imperative recently completed a Workforce and Financial Data Survey and a Nursing Home Occupancy Survey. Thanks to all the members who contributed their data to those surveys.