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The Senate Human Services Reform and Finance Committee recently met to address a wide array of topics that included Elderly Waiver implementation and vaccine requirements in various long-term care settings.

Dawn Davis, head of the Background Studies unit at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), will join the LeadingAge Minnesota Coaching Room on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. to provide an update and answer questions about the transition back to fingerprint-based studies. 

Top of mind for many members is the CDC guidance regarding testing during an outbreak. When a new facility onset case of COVID-19 is found in a staff member or resident, the organization must proceed with outbreak testing. So how do we know who to test and what are the testing parameters? The information below may give you the answers you need.

Recently, Minnesota's state medical director eliminated a significant barrier to using antigen testing in assisted living settings.

The LeadingAge Minnesota Payment Committee is holding a special meeting next Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m. to discuss the status of care center Medicaid rates for 2022 in light of recent information from DHS on their plans to implement cost offsets due to federal aid received by providers.

LeadingAge Minnesota has been working intensively with state agency leaders to illustrate the seriousness and urgency of the workforce crisis facing providers and collaborate on identifying solutions and support to respond.

The Quality and Patient Safety Conference on Oct. 14 in Bloomington and the pre-conference workshop, Foundations of Quality Improvement, on Oct. 13 focus on building and improving quality programs in all aging services settings.

It's the last week to register for the Nursing Leadership Certificate Program, LeadingAge Minnesota’s highly acclaimed training series to prepare new nurse leaders for a successful career in older adult services.

Register by this Friday, Sept. 24 to get early-bird pricing on the 2021 Connect Conference. The conference will bring together senior housing, assisted living, and home care on Oct. 27-28 at Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center.

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.”

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.

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.

On Sept. 16, HUD announced the fourth round of COVID-19 Supplemental Payments (CSPs) for Multifamily housing providers. The funds are available to help Section 8, Section 202, and Section 811 properties prepare for and respond to COVID-19. Requests are due to the agency by Nov. 19 and can cover expenses incurred between April 1 and Oct. 31.

Through Oct. 31, 2021, DHS is accepting applications from people to join the new Waiver Reimagine Advisory Committee (WRAC). The committee will provide input about the implementation of Waiver Reimagine and help develop the program during virtual meetings held every other month. 

Legislation that became effective July 1 directed the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to stop enrolling new customized living settings serving four or fewer people in single-family homes for individuals served through the Brain Injury (BI) and Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) waivers.

As COVID-19 crashed into our lives, so did the awareness of and need for respiratory protection programs in long-term care settings. Respiratory protection programs are designed to ensure all employees are protected from respiratory hazards, such as the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that staff and resident vaccination rates for all care centers have been posted on the Care Compare website.

As we settle into the new assisted living requirements, it is a good time for self-auditing. According to the new law, an assisted living must post the following:

Beginning this week, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is utilizing contractors from an agency called Healthcare Management Solutions (HMS) to conduct nursing home recertification surveys, which are currently backlogged at the Department. 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released a notice via GovDelivery indicating a transition pathway for Basic Care Aides (BCA) to become Nursing Assistants through an expedited process before the end of the 1135 Waiver.

Are you new to LeadingAge Minnesota?  Don’t know where to start?  Don’t know what we do?

Join the recurring LeadingAge Minnesota New Member Orientation Session that happens every ^fourth Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.  Sign up can be found at the bottom of the Advantage newsletter, or you can click here to register for the session that works best for your schedule.  The next session is on Sept. 28. 

Enroll yourself or an emerging nurse leader in LeadingAge Minnesota's highly acclaimed Nursing Leadership Certificate Program.

The Quality and Patient Safety Conference on Oct. 14 in Bloomington and the pre-conference workshop, Foundations of Quality Improvement, on Oct. 13 focus on building and improving quality programs in all aging services settings.

The 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum will be held over four half-days on Sept. 22, 23, 24, and Oct. 5.

The 2021 Connect Conference brings together senior housing, assisted living, and home care on Oct. 27-28 at Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center. The early bird registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 24.

In August, 50 new members joined into the ranks of LeadingAge Minnesota. Of the new members, two are adult day providers, one is a care center, three are home cares, 27 are housing/assisted living providers, 15 are individual associate members, and two are business partners.

At the 2021 Annual Business Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 23, members will be asked to ratify the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors recommendation to establish a minimum dues policy for dues payable beginning in Jan. 2022.

The 2021 LeadingAge Minnesota Nominating Committee, chaired by Mark Anderson, CEO of Knute Nelson in Alexandria, has proposed a slate of candidates to fill open positions on the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors.

The Living at Home Network has announced that Katie Boller Gosewisch will join the organization as the new executive director.

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.