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A special message from Erin Hilligan, Chair of the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors

I am writing to share some news that you may already have heard, which impacts my continued service as the Chair of the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors. An exciting new career opportunity emerged several weeks ago, and I have accepted a new leadership position with WesleyLife in Iowa. I will take up my new responsibilities there at the beginning of 2022.

LeadingAge MN Foundation and Trellis are offering a free introductory course on writing a successful grant proposal. Choose from two different dates below. Both will be held via Zoom:

The Nov. 18 webinar, Understanding the CMS 5-Star Analysis Report to Guide Quality Improvement featuring Susan Chenail, RN, CCM, RAC-CT, Senior Quality Improvement Analyst from LeadingAge New York, is now available to view.

On Nov. 24, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule increasing the minimum hourly wage for federal contractors to $15 beginning Jan. 30, 2022. This document finalizes regulations to implement an Executive Order signed by President Biden in April and moves the hourly minimum up from its current level of $10.95.

In a recently released memo, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) clarified the Housing Support Program’s requirement to provide three meals a day in relation to the new assisted living contract limitation found in 144G.41, Subd. 1(13)(i)(C), which stipulates that “the facility cannot require a resident to include and pay for meals in their contract.”

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has recently started posting assisted living survey findings on its website.

The site allows searches by facility, county, city. To see all completed assisted living surveys to date, set the date range for Aug. 1, 2021 to today's date and search "all."

On Tuesday of this week, a federal judge in Louisiana has granted a nationwide preliminary injunction against the COVID-19 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate following a lawsuit filed by Montana and 13 other states.

As we brace for a new COVID-19 variant and your teams are exhausted from staffing challenges, learn ways to reduce burnout risk in your organization. Register for a 30-minute workshop with Dr. Alyson Van Ahn from the Associated Clinic of Psychology.

CMS has updated its COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers list to address requirements for a nursing home's Director of Food and Nutrition Services.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is developing plans to distribute the $50 million in American Rescue Plan funds to care centers after an announcement from Gov. Walz last week. This funding is to provide recruitment and retention bonuses to staff when staffing shortages are having a significant impact on care centers statewide. The Long-Term Care Imperative is pleased that the Administration has heard our workforce concerns and is taking steps to address that problem.

The Long-Term Care Imperative recently completed an analysis of care center occupancy for the first three quarters of this year, and it shows some improvement in the third quarter. However, the modest uptick still puts occupancy far below pre-pandemic levels.

A LeadingAge Minnesota staff team recently reviewed 2020 and 2021 Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) citations issued to nursing homes during survey investigations. We identified several cases in which CPR was delayed or the code status was not appropriately followed when determining whether or not to initiate CPR.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) recently informed LeadingAge Minnesota that rate notices for care centers for the 2022 calendar year will be posted much later than the statutorily required date of Nov. 15. Rates will not be available until some time in 2022.

SAINT PAUL, MN (Nov. 22, 2021) - We are facing unprecedented workforce shortages in senior care settings across our state. Many long-term care communities cannot afford to lose even one more caregiver. The actions the Governor is taking today will provide emergency staffing assistance to the exhausted professional caregivers who have been on the pandemic’s frontlines for over 20 months and will also provide financial incentives for our staff to continue their dedicated efforts for Minnesota’s seniors. 

There are 23,000 open long-term caregiver positions across the state, and each month we are losing more staff than we can recruit. A crisis of this scope requires bold solutions, and we cannot fix this problem without the State’s support. We greatly appreciate the legislative leaders who have shined a bright light on our workforce crisis and the Governor and his administration for taking swift action to step in with emergency staffing solutions for nursing homes. Today’s actions will help support the weary professional caregivers and the seniors they serve while we continue to work with the Governor and Legislature toward a permanent and lasting solution to address the staffing shortage across all senior care settings.

We look forward to our work ahead to ensure Minnesota’s seniors have access to the care they need in all the communities they call home.

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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.

The Institute & Expo – Momentum – returns to RiverCentre in Saint Paul Feb. 9-11, 2022, and virtually Feb. 22-24.

The 2022 Institute will be a blended conference model, with three days of education, events, and exhibits in person at RiverCentre, and additional educational sessions offered virtually later in the month.

Barb Rode, President & CEO of Saint Therese, has announced to the organization's Board of Directors her intent to retire in early summer 2022.

Next week, many of you will celebrate Thanksgiving, and the LeadingAge Minnesota office will be closed on Thursday and Friday. Here's what you can expect next week from our team.

It's time for the LeadingAge quarterly affordable housing survey! LeadingAge, our national affiliate, is conducting its regular survey on affordable housing, and we encourage you to participate.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have released the 2022 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs.

As of this week, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that Provider Relief Funds (PRF) and Paycheck Protection Program Loans (PPP) will not be offset in care center rates.

You are feeling like you can't handle one more month, week, or day of COVID-19? Register for a 30-minute workshop with Dr. Alyson Van Ahn from the Associated Clinic of Psychology.

The Minnesota Department of Health has indicated that the agency will issue guidance for assisted living settings in the coming days, reflecting recent federal guidance for nursing homes and eliminating visitation restrictions in long-term care settings.

The assisted living rule contains specificity regarding several requirements of the assisted living statute, including staffing plans. The rule requires the Clinical Nurse Supervisor (CNS) to develop a staffing plan that considers several vital elements.

As providers continue preparing to implement staff vaccination mandates, here are the latest available situational updates:

CMS Omnibus COVID–19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Rule

CMS has clarified that the Phase 1 implementation deadline is Dec. 6, not Dec. 5.

On this Veteran’s Day, LeadingAge Minnesota and our members join those throughout our country honoring veterans who have served and sacrificed.

As we approach the new year, we invite all members to get involved in LeadingAge Minnesota committees in 2022. We are tackling the challenges you face on numerous fronts, and we need you to help shape the critical work ahead.

The US Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a free downloadable manual, Psychosocial Interventions for Older Adults with Serious Mental Illness.

Last week we talked about bringing more joy to your workplace by starting your meetings by sharing one good thing. Another simple way to share good things and boost positive emotions in the workplace is to hang posters on the walls around the campus or in the breakroom to record and share good things visually. Get the list started and encourage others to add their own good things.

Congress is currently working on the Build Back Better Act, the second part of President Biden's infrastructure improvement effort. The BBB is a $1.75 trillion proposal to enhance and improve "social" infrastructure, including services to older adults. It is currently being finalized in the House. Then it will head to the Senate and, once both houses agree, to the President. The current version of the bill includes the following investments in programs for older adults-

The Minnesota Health Care Loan Forgiveness program cycle is accepting applications through Jan. 17, 2022. The Loan Forgiveness program is available for various health care professionals serving in high-need areas, including nurses in nursing homes, assisted living, and home care settings. Please join the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) team for a webinar to learn more about this program on Wednesday, Dec. 8 from 9-10 a.m. Register here.