News
Category: Notable News
Welcome to the Notable News category, which includes information on the latest issues in aging services.
Register Today! CMP Grant Funds Webinar on Oct. 29
On October 21, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Care centers have access to an engagement, retention, and leadership building platform for free through a grant for Align’s Employee Engagement Solution. A new grant window opened on Sept. 22 and closes on Nov. 23. Subsequent cycles will open over the next two years.
Webinar Registration Now Open for CMP Grant Funds
On October 14, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Care centers have access to an engagement, retention, and leadership building platform for free through a grant for Align’s Employee Engagement Solution. A new grant window opened on Sept. 22 and closes on Nov. 23. Subsequent cycles will open over the next two years.
Advance Caregivers with New Gerontology and Aging Care Program
On October 14, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Looking for a way to grow caregivers within your organization or help staff advance in their career path? Northwest Technical College is offering an online course to advance the specialty of caregivers in aging services.
Webinar Registration Open for CMP Grant Funds
On October 7, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Care centers have access to an engagement, retention, and leadership building platform for free through a grant for Align’s Employee Engagement Solution. A new grant window opened on Sept. 22 and closes on Nov. 23. Subsequent cycles will open over the next two years.
Practice Random Acts of Kindness by Being Kind to Yourself
On October 7, 2021 by Julie Apold
The greatest act of kindness that you can practice without any cost and minimal effort is being kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for things not in your control. Use kind words when you talk to yourself – do what you can, do not dwell on what you cannot. Practice kindness on yourself and being kind to others will come naturally (Ghate, 2021).
Workshop to Recruit and Retain Caregivers
On October 7, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) is hosting a workshop titled, The New CNA Workforce: Frontline Lessons from the Pandemic on Nov. 10 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Register here today!
Press Release: New Data Reveals Critical Worker Shortages Among Minnesota’s Long-Term Care Providers
On October 7, 2021 by Libbie Chapuran
Nearly 70% of nursing homes are pausing admissions due to staff shortage
ST. PAUL, MN (Oct. 7, 2021) – Reaffirming that Minnesota’s workforce shortage in senior care continues to grow, a recent survey of more than 300 Minnesota senior care providers conducted by the Long-Term Care Imperative revealed that 69% of Minnesota nursing homes and 29% of assisted living locations have placed limits on new resident admissions because of an inability to fill staff positions.
With over 23,000 direct care positions currently vacant across the state, the expanding worker shortage is challenging the ability of senior caregivers to provide care to Minnesota’s rapidly growing senior population and support hospitals that are seeking to discharge patients into care facilities. According to the survey, in August the number of resignations of long-term care professionals exceeded new hires by approximately 2,000 workers.
“The data on open positions and staff retention confirms that a growing number of elderly Minnesotans will not receive the care they need in our settings, and families will be limited in their choices when they most need our services. State leaders need to step forward with both emergency action and long-term solutions to help attract and retain workers in the profession of senior care,” said Patti Cullen, CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota.
Shortages exist across the spectrum of long-term care positions, including Certified Nursing Assistants, Registered Nurses, laundry and nutrition services. Nursing homes in every region of the state reported double-digit percentages of unfilled positions for direct care workers, which account for over half of reported vacancies. At nursing homes in the Twin Cities metro, roughly 1 in 4 direct care and nurse practitioner positions stand empty. In just the month of August, an estimated 7,975 senior care workers resigned from their jobs in long-term care to seek work in other fields.
Gayle Kvenvold, CEO of LeadingAge Minnesota explained, “Our caregivers deserve the pay that reflects the importance of their work and helps providers deliver safe, quality care to all who need their critical services. Even with the widespread use of overtime pay and bonuses, more caregivers are leaving our field than joining it. We need a commitment from the state to invest in higher wages to guarantee seniors receive the care they need when they need it in all the communities they call home.”
The Long-Term Care Imperative is calling on state policymakers to address the crisis with immediate emergency staffing as well as long-term reforms to ensure competitive wages for caregivers. The highly regulated nature of senior care makes it immensely difficult to address these issues without financial support and regulatory relief from state government. State regulators set the daily rate charged by nursing homes for both privately paying residents and those receiving state support. In addition, senior care providers must wait 21 months after providing care to receive reimbursement from the State. The increased costs to attract new workers, intense competition for jobs, delayed reimbursement and modest growth in Medical Assistance funding combine to make it difficult for providers to adapt to the changes in the labor market for senior caregivers.
Kvenvold said, “This workforce problem won’t be solved with a one-time infusion of dollars into senior care reimbursement. Without more significant investments in the senior care workforce and changes to the reimbursement system to allow this to happen, this crisis will threaten the availability of care for the most vulnerable at a time when we are facing the largest population of seniors in American history.”
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The Long-Term Care Imperative is a collaboration of LeadingAge Minnesota and Care Providers of Minnesota, two of the state’s largest long-term care associations. The Long-Term Care Imperative is committed to advancing a shared vision and future for older adult housing, health care and supportive services.
CONTACT: Libbie Chapuran
lchapuran@leadingagemn.org
715-216-1057
Practice Random Acts of Kindness With Your Words
On September 30, 2021 by Julie Apold
Sharing your Random Acts of Kindness can make others more aware of the many opportunities around them to perform random acts of kindness every day. Self Care for Safe Care Random Acts of Kindness Posters can be printed and placed throughout your community to encourage sharing examples of acts of kindness with others.
Funding Available for Resident and Family Peer Support Group Program
On September 30, 2021 by Lori Meyer
The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking proposals from qualified Minnesota Medicaid-certified nursing facilities interested in implementing a resident and family peer support group program.
Live Webinar for Employee Engagement CMP Grant Funds
On September 30, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Care centers have access to an engagement, retention, and leadership building platform for free through a grant for Align’s Employee Engagement Solution. A new grant window opened on Sept. 22 and closes on Nov. 23. Subsequent cycles will open over the next two years.
Practice Random Acts of Kindness through Your Words
On September 23, 2021 by Julie Apold
Offering kind words to others doesn’t just make them feel good. It also gives you a rush of good feelings. That positive energy grows and spreads whenever you share it. Mother Theresa once said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
Second Round CMP Grant Now Open: Employee Engagement with Align
On September 23, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Care centers have access to an engagement, retention, and leadership building platform for free through a grant for Align’s Employee Engagement Solution. A new grant window opened on Sept. 22 and closes on Nov. 23. Subsequent cycles will open over the next two years.
Influenza & Vaccinations in the COVID-19 Era
On September 23, 2021 by Kari Everson
Fall is here again, and so are hot chocolate, cozy sweaters, crackling fires, cool nights, and influenza vaccines! Long-term care settings should begin planning for annual influenza vaccinations, as they do each fall.
Living at Home Network Announces New ED; Welcome Katie Boller Gosewisch
On September 15, 2021 by Libbie Chapuran
The Living at Home Network has announced that Katie Boller Gosewisch will join the organization as the new executive director.
New Data on Caregiving Workforce
On September 15, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
PHI has released a new annual report on the caregiving workforce. This report focuses on how job quality in our sector has prevented an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 Most Admired CEO Award Provides Platform to Highlight Workforce Challenges
On September 15, 2021 by Libbie Chapuran
Gayle Kvenvold, President and CEO of LeadingAge Minnesota, was recently named a 2021 Most Admired CEO by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. In a feature story published on Sept. 7, Gayle drew attention to the workforce shortages long-term care providers are facing:
Be the Bearer of Instant Joy with Random Acts of Kindness
On September 15, 2021 by Julie Apold
When you do a Random Act of Kindness, the hormone oxytocin (the “feel good” hormone) is produced in your body. Studies show that doing a random act of kindness will:
New CMP Grant Window: Employee Engagement with Align
On September 8, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman
Care centers have access to an engagement, retention, and leadership building platform for FREE through a grant for Align’s Employee Engagement Solution. A new grant window is opening soon, just as the previous cycle is wrapping up.
Health Info Exchange Opportunity for Nursing Homes
On September 1, 2021 by Jonathan Lips
Audacious Inquiry (Ai), a health information technology firm, is offering to connect with LeadingAge Minnesota nursing home members about a funding opportunity available until Sept. 30 relating to health information exchange.
EduCare’s Dementia Series recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association® Curriculum Review
On September 1, 2021 by Libbie Chapuran
EduCare’s 5-part Dementia Series is now recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association for successfully completing curriculum review and incorporating its evidenced-based Dementia Care Practice Recommendations in the following topic areas: Alzheimer’s and dementia, person-centered care, assessment and care planning, activities of daily living, and behaviors and communication.
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