News

Registration is open for the Minnesota Health Care Engineers Association (MHCEA) Fall Conference and Vendor Show that takes place Sept. 11-13 at Grand Casino Hinckley. 

Minnesota seniors and people with disabilities soon will have more help finding and keeping housing, thanks to new services coming to the state’s Medicaid program next year. 

The Minnesota Department of Health is soliciting grant proposals from providers of adult day care, home care and housing with services to provide educational scholarships for their employees. Find the HCBS Program detail, application, and forms on the MDH website here.  

People with hearing loss can learn more about assistive technology, communications access and other issues at a new website launched this week by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.   

Governor Tim Walz has named Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota President Jodi Harpstead as the new commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).  

The Minnesota Board on Aging has issued a Request for Proposals for local and regional projects that will increase awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, increase the rate of cognitive testing, promote the benefits of early diagnosis, or connect caregivers of persons with dementia to education and resources.  

The Minnesota Department of Health is soliciting grant proposals from providers of adult day care, home care, and housing with services to provide educational scholarships for their employees. Find the HCBS Program detail, application, and forms here.  

Acting Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner Pam Wheelock tnamed Bob Jacobson to manage the Office of Inspector General on an interim basis.  

Starting Aug. 1, laws protecting Minnesotans from exposure to deadly secondhand smoke will expand to include the use of e-cigarettes and vapes.  

Home Care Matters, a provider webinar sponsored by the Home Care and Assisted Living Program at the Minnesota Department of Health, takes place on Wednesday, Aug. 7 from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.  

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has released a short document that summarizes new statutory requirements around documentation for waiver services. 

In response to a request from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Office of Health Facility Complaints (OHFC), Eldermark Software recently met with the investigation teams and supervisors from OHFC and the Licensing & Survey Compliance division to provide some basic training on the software used by many senior living providers across the state.   

New Minnesota Food Code requirements went into effect on Jan. 1 and one topic providers want to learn more about is the requirements for establishments serving highly susceptible populations:  

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recently released the application materials for this year’s round of the nursing facility moratorium exceptions process. Care centers interested in applying should complete the required application materials and return them to MDH by Dec. 20. Following a presentation to a review committee early next year, MDH will have a list of approved projects by April 3, 2020. 

Under regulations enacted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hazardous waste pharmaceuticals may not be sewered (flushed or poured down a drain) for disposal after Aug. 21, 2019. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has posted a fact sheet about changes in management of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to its website.  

Registration is now open for the Preventing Diversion of Controlled Substances in Long-Term Care seminar on Aug. 13 in St. Paul. This 3.5-hour course will provide administrators and nursing leaders with an evidence-based overview of recommendations and best practices to prevent controlled substance diversion in their setting.  

The Health and Human Services budget bill that passed during the 2019 special session includes several provisions that advance a proposal known as Waiver Reimagine. Over the next several years, Waiver Reimagine will combine the four existing disability waivers under two new waivers, one for individuals living independently or with family and one for clients in residential settings. 

Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Tony Lourey resigned on Monday. Pam Wheelock, an experienced administrator with a career spanning the public, private and nonprofit sectors, will serve as acting commissioner.  

A new requirement effective Aug. 1 requires providers to document that they have checked the Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) Excluded Group Providers and Excluded Individual Providers each month.  

The Minnesota Historical Society has developed several offerings for adults with dementia and their caregivers. Resources, tools and community engagement opportunities for residents and clients of care centers, assisted living, and Adult Day Service include: