News

Last week the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced that it is making $25.5 billion in new funding available for health care providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of a broad COVID-19 Action Plan released late last week, President Biden announced new vaccine mandates for workers across the country. The plan addresses several topics relevant to aging services, including preparation for the delivery of booster shots if approved and recommended by the FDA and CDC, and efforts to build the supply of rapid COVID tests, but the most prominent aspects of the White House plan relate to mandates.

Thursday, Sept. 2 marked the final working group meeting for Hero Pay. Since July, lawmakers have been meeting to finalize how the $250 million allocated to reward frontline workers will be distributed. In their final meeting, co-chairs Senator Housley and Majority Leader Winkler indicated that progress is being made. However, they have yet to reach a consensus and will continue the conversation beyond their self-imposed deadline of Sept. 7.

This week, the Long-Term Care Imperative is conducting a survey of workforce conditions faced by care center and assisted living members.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has announced a plan for moving from emergency background studies back to studies with fingerprints and photographs.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith joined a group of 43 senators urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to distribute the funds remaining in the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and other health care relief programs.

Resilience is our ability to bounce back from the stresses of life. In a new Self Care for Safe Care video, Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinics of Psychology describes the impact of the strains from COVID-19 on all aspects of our lives and how we can build our resilience and practice Self Care for Safe Care.

Staff at all levels are experiencing stress and burnout from their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and unfortunately, we know the pandemic is not over. To address this stress and help teams thrive, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is releasing a set of resources to help teams and individual staff process, recover, and renew from the trauma of COVID-19.

Since President Biden announced last week that CMS will develop regulations requiring all nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff, LeadingAge Minnesota has been working closely with our national affiliate LeadingAge to seek additional information, better understand the directive, and advocate on behalf of our members.

In a significant escalation of the federal government’s effort to increase vaccination rates, President Biden announced today that he has directed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop regulations requiring all nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff, as a condition of receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Earlier today, LeadingAge sent all care center members updated Five-Star Analysis reports that reflect data from earlier this year during the height of the pandemic. In addition to showing the status of each of the measures and the overall score, the report also shows areas where care centers are close to gaining or losing points. To look at your care center’s performance over time on any of the measures, members should click on any of the red “trend” boxes on the Five Star report.

One of the Association’s most cherished and time-honored traditions is getting together each fall for LeadingAge Minnesota’s Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum at Madden’s Resort near Brainerd. The LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors voted to convert our planned in-person meeting to a virtual event.

In a Joint Statement issued today, Health and Human Services (HHS) officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and other agencies announced plans to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to all Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20 and starting eight months after an individual’s second dose. 

In January 2021, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) temporarily waived the requirement during the peacetime emergency for lead agencies to complete OBRA Level II evaluations before a person’s nursing facility admission.

An essential requirement of assisted living is the provision of a Uniform Disclosure of Assisted Living Services and Amenities (UDALSA). The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has acknowledged that there can be more than one UDALSA per facility if there are varying services in different sections of the building.

On Tuesday, July 27, a select working group began hosting a series of hearings to determine how to allocate the money set aside during a special session for Hero Pay bonuses for frontline workers. Several different groups are vying for the $250 million set aside for the bonuses, and this week, the working group is hosting a hearing to discuss the effects of the pandemic on long-term care staff. Here is what you need to know about what is happening at the capitol this week:

During the June special session, legislation changed resident assessment practices that care centers now need to follow: the requirement for a significant change assessment after therapy services end or after completing a period of required isolation for an infection.

The Minnesota Department of Health has issued over 1,700 assisted living facility or assisted living facility with dementia care licenses as of Friday afternoon. For the remaining 286 conversion applicants who are waiting for background checks or who have final documents to submit, MDH has issued a conditional license.

As we transition to Assisted Living Licensure on Aug. 1, action is required to be a provider of Medical Assistance waiver programs in the Provider Enrollment record with the Department of Human Services.

Implementation of assisted living licensure is only days away, and there are many process changes to both operational and clinical work. A new Assisted Living Bill of Rights was created and posted on the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) website many weeks ago. Organizations are required to ensure all residents living in assisted living receive a copy.