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In honor of CNA week, we are excited to announce that OnTrack recently released the most up-to-date nursing assistant training curriculum to align with new Headmaster state testing!

This week, CMS announced that survey oversight of the staff vaccination mandate for Medicare and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers will continue to be performed during initial and recertification surveys but will now only be performed in response to complaints alleging non-compliance with this requirement, not all complaint surveys. This news comes after CMS determined that 95% of nearly 12,000 providers and suppliers surveyed by states have been in substantial compliance with this requirement.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced the grant recipients of the Internationally Trained Professionals Competitive Grant Program, a program to help internationally trained healthcare workers earn healthcare licensures in Minnesota.

Are you interested in improving your mealtime safety practices but don't know where to start? LeadingAge Minnesota, as part of Safe Care, has developed a new video demonstrating two essential dietary safety practices – Pre-Meal Huddles and Dietary Safety Pauses.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) website now confirms the extension of the July 2 deadline by which employees with emergency background studies must clear fingerprint-based studies until the end of the year. Individuals who received emergency studies must have a fully compliant study by Dec. 31 to continue working after that date. 

Have you posted your open positions on the AgingServicesJobs.org platform? LeadingAge MN’s job board, AgingServicesJobs.org, is the premier resource for long-term care employers to post their critical to fill positions and get connected with qualified applicants.

The requirements for assisted living directors of settings licensed as assisted living with dementia care (ALDC) have raised several questions for those seeking to keep their credentials up to date.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated recommendations for an additional COVID-19 vaccination booster (fourth shot) on May 24. The updates provide a recommendation for a second booster for those people 12 and older if they are moderately to severely immunocompromised and individuals 50 years of age and older.

Although the House and Senate are in recess this week, there's no shortage of work left to be done before Congress adjourns ahead of the midterm elections. What began as the Build Back Better plan is now being reshaped into a much narrower, inflation-fighting measure that would amount to a fraction of the spending in the original bill.

On June 6, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will terminate the COVID-19 waiver that has allowed nurse aides to serve seniors without being on the Nursing Assistant Registry. Nurse aides hired or worked during the waiver have until Oct. 7 to be placed on the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry.

On a monthly Nurse Assistant call, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) had previously communicated near-term deadlines for those working under the 1135 Waiver. With the termination of the waiver quickly approaching, we advocated strongly for flexibility and further clarity on the action required for those working under the waiver to ensure nurse aides can continue providing services for seniors throughout the state.

MDH has provided helpful clarification on the three different pathways to transition caregivers who have been working under the 1135 Waiver.

Three Pathways

Pathway 1: Enroll in a state-approved Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP) and complete the training program and pass the exam by Oct. 7.

Pathway 2: Enroll in a NATCEP training program, but take advantage of the transition pathway developed by MDH, allowing facilities to credit training received while working in a long-term care facility under the waiver towards the required 75-hours of training. Individuals taking this route must still enroll in a NATCEP program to ensure training requirements are met and assist in completing any additional training needs. The training and testing must be completed and passed by Oct. 7.

Pathway 3: Choose not to enroll in a NATCEP program, but challenge and pass the test before Oct. 7. The nurse aide will have three attempts to successfully pass the knowledge and skills exams. If they do not pass the test by Oct. 7, they cannot work as a nurse aide until completion of a NATCEP program.

Please refer to the updated MDH document Placement on Minnesota’s Nurse Aide Registry for Nurse Aides Working during the 1135 Waiver for more information on these pathways.

We will continue to work closely with our partners at MDH and Minnesota State Colleges to discuss strategies to ensure all caregivers working under the 1135 Waiver are successfully trained, tested, and transitioned to be on the registry by Oct. 6.

If you have questions or need assistance with this process, please reach out to Anna Mowry, Director of Workforce Solutions at LeadingAge Minnesota.

LeadingAge Minnesota submitted comments this week urging OSHA not to make its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for COVID-19 a permanent part of the regulatory landscape.

One of the provisions of the Health and Human Services policy bill that passed on the last night of the session made revenue-neutral revisions to the Elderly Waiver Customized Living (EWCL) disproportionate share program for the 2023 calendar year and beyond.

On Sunday evening, the Minnesota Legislature passed a provision as part of its Health and Human Services Policy bill to allow remote adult day as a service.

The 2022 legislative session in Minnesota has come to a close. Although our advocacy for funding to support assisted living providers continues, the Minnesota Legislature passed several policy changes affecting assisted living providers.

Although the Health and Human Services conference committee could not agree on new funding measures, the committee reached a consensus on a package of policy changes that passed both the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives on the last day of the legislative session. The policy bill includes two provisions that provide some relief for providers relating to background studies.

Mental and behavioral health are increasing challenges for many residents of our settings. Tools to equip staff to serve individuals with these challenges and be knowledgeable in de-escalation techniques are valuable. You can better understand older adult mental illness and learn new skills with this free, three-episode video training series funded by a grant from the Stratis Health Building Healthier Communities Program.

We encourage care centers to participate in a letter-writing campaign targeted at payment cuts proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

It’s crunch time on the advocacy front! At the state level, we are in the final days of the legislative session and funding for aging services in still in play. Without our encouragement, funding could easily be left out of a final budget agreement.

On June 6, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will terminate the COVID-19 waiver that has allowed basic care aides and caregivers to serve seniors without being on the Nursing Assistant Registry.

On May 4, Knute Nelson, a LeadingAge Minnesota member, announced a partnership with K4Connect, a mission-driven health-tech company integrating technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities.

Emergency preparedness plans continue to be an area of concern for providers and are a frequently cited item in assisted living surveys. To assist in developing thorough plans and content for Emergency Preparation by assisted living facilities and as a helpful self-audit tool, the MDH has updated its Emergency Preparedness survey tool and posted it to their Assisted Living webpage this week.

The Minnesota Department of Health has new tools to assist providers in completing the license renewal process, which is underway this month. As you prepare for your assisted living license renewal, the Assisted Living License Renewal page has videos, checklists and other resources for providers preparing their license renewal application.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is temporarily waiving mandatory direct contact supervision requirements for new hires while their fingerprint-based background studies are being processed. The waiver remains in effect until June 30.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has been notified by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of their plans to conduct site visits of several provider settings this summer to review their compliance with the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule. Site visits will occur the week of July 25.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has recently released new guidance on using side rails in assisted living communities.

After almost 44 years with LeadingAge Minnesota, Heidi Simpson has announced she will be retiring this year effective Aug. 1. While she will be deeply missed, we are also excited for Heidi and her family as they embark on this new journey!

LeadingAge Minnesota members have been lifting their voices in support of caregivers and the seniors they serve to advocate for higher wages and access to care for Minnesota’s seniors.

There is still time to register for the Senior Living Executive Conference happening May 16-18.   

Thousands of senior living professionals, operators, owners, executives, and community leaders will gather in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the next edition of the Senior Living Executive Conference & Expo, the official meeting of Argentum.

Registration closes soon for LeadingAge Minnesota’s Nurse Leadership Certificate Program – the premier training program for new and emerging nurse leaders in skilled care and assisted living settings. The series begins May 17 and is scheduled over five months, including in-person and virtual sessions.

We respect and value your opinion, and we ask you to share your thoughts in our 2022 Annual Membership Survey.

Looking back at the past two years, we can all agree it hasn’t been easy. We faced a global pandemic head-on and continue to work together to address the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and the severe workforce crisis plaguing our settings. But we also must look ahead. Minnesota is now home to one million seniors, and we are seeking new, innovative ways to serve all those who need care in our settings.