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The Connect Conference that brings together senior housing, assisted living, and home care returns to Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center this Oct. 27 and 28. The landscape of aging services has changed in the last year, and this conference features several related educational sessions.

Planning is underway for the 2022 Institute & Expo, Feb. 8-11 at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. We are now accepting your proposals to present concurrent educational sessions at the conference, which over 3,000 aging services professionals attend.

Have you posted open positions on the new AgingServicesJobs.Org platform? The new site is now available! Post today and receive an introductory rate of $39 per posting using the coupon code Aging2021 (postings typically $99). This discount will be available to all members for a limited time as we recognize this critical time in building our workforce.

Nominations are being accepted for your amazing staff, residents and volunteers in preparation for the 2022 Stars Among Us Awards. Nominations are due for individual and organizational awards on Sept. 13 in multiple categories, including the Caregiver of the Year, Outstanding Leadership, and the new Rising Star Award.

To streamline and coordinate timing between national and state communications, LeadingAge Minnesota’s weekly newsletter will be sent to you on Thursdays starting on Thursday, Sept. 23.

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 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.

Share your thoughts on vaccine mandates. Show your support for the Infrastructure Bill.

Join your peers from around the country in a national advocacy effort and contact your elected officials today. LeadingAge, our national affiliate, has launched two grassroots campaigns and now is the time to act. Send a message to your U.S. Representatives and Senators.

In late July, a select working group began hosting hearings on allocating the money set aside during the 2021 special session for Hero Pay bonuses for frontline workers. Several different groups are vying for a piece of the $250 million. This week, the working group hosted a hearing to discuss the criteria used to allocate the money.

When Minnesota's Peacetime Emergency ended on July 1, it started a sixty-day countdown to the expiration of most Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) COVID-19 waivers or modifications of state laws or regulations. 

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is actively developing a plan for booster vaccinations in long-term care settings.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to launch boosters the week of Sept. 20, and MDH wants to be sure this next phase in the vaccination process rolls out as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith joined a group of 43 senators urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to distribute the funds remaining in the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and other health care relief programs.

Resilience is our ability to bounce back from the stresses of life. In a new Self Care for Safe Care video, Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinics of Psychology describes the impact of the strains from COVID-19 on all aspects of our lives and how we can build our resilience and practice Self Care for Safe Care.

The 2021 Connect Conference for Senior Housing, Assisted Living, and Home Care is on Oct. 27-28 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center. Save the dates and watch for conference and registration information coming later this week.

Last week’s announcement of a Virtual Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum will change the event schedule. The conference will be all virtual, half-days on the original dates of Sept. 22-24 and additionally on Oct. 5.

We are pleased to announce the 2021 Quality & Patient Safety Conference on Oct. 14. Additionally, we are holding a pre-conference workshop, Foundations of Quality Improvement, on Oct. 13.

This pair of events helps position your organization to refine its quality improvement programs, use data information to drive decision-making, and develop and implement solutions to address priority issues.

LeadingAge Minnesota’s acclaimed Nursing Leadership Certificate Program returns for 2021-22 and is open for registration. This program has a 30+ year track record of equipping nurses with critical leadership and operational skills to provide high-quality care and services in care centers and assisted living settings.

Are you new to LeadingAge Minnesota? Do you want to learn more about your Association? Would you like to find ways to engage?

Join the recurring LeadingAge Minnesota New Member Orientation Session that happens every fourth Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Register for the session that works best for your schedule. The next session is on Sept. 28. 

Argentum, a national affiliate of LeadingAge Minnesota, has launched a 5-week campaign to encourage the federal government to release Provider Relief Funds promised to long-term care providers to assist in responding to COVID-19.

In public comments filed this week, both LeadingAge and Argentum urged the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) not to make the agency's Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for COVID-19 a permanent part of the regulatory landscape. The ETS is only effective for six months from its publication date of June 21 unless OSHA acts to make it permanent.

After canceling them in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minnesota Department of Health (DHS) intends to conduct in-person resident quality of life surveys this fall in addition to mailed surveys to family members. For the first time, these surveys will include both care centers and licensed assisted living settings. As in past years, DHS has contracted with Vital Research to conduct these surveys, and they will contact administrators early this fall to set up the survey process. DHS is planning to send an informational letter to assisted living facilities about the new survey in advance of contact from Vital Research.

In the last several weeks, the number of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes and assisted living settings have increased. Because there was an extended time when outbreaks were low, we have received many questions about handling them, specifically visitation and testing.

The most recent Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) update on long-term care vaccination shows slow progress continuing for staff rates, while resident rates remain outstanding.

Staff at all levels are experiencing stress and burnout from their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and unfortunately, we know the pandemic is not over. To address this stress and help teams thrive, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is releasing a set of resources to help teams and individual staff process, recover, and renew from the trauma of COVID-19.

Since President Biden announced last week that CMS will develop regulations requiring all nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff, LeadingAge Minnesota has been working closely with our national affiliate LeadingAge to seek additional information, better understand the directive, and advocate on behalf of our members.

In a significant escalation of the federal government’s effort to increase vaccination rates, President Biden announced today that he has directed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop regulations requiring all nursing homes to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff, as a condition of receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

House calls are the latest trend in employee health benefits delivery. Learn more about how one company is disrupting the employee benefits world with house calls for your sick team members tomorrow at 10 a.m.

The next Nursing Leadership Certificate Program will be held on multiple dates from Sept. 2021 – Jan. 2022. Program details are currently being finalized. Registration is coming soon.

Mark your calendar for two upcoming conferences in October.

The new Quality and Patient Safety Conference is on Oct. 18, emphasizing how to create the culture and environment that supports continuous improvement. A pre-conference workshop on Oct. 17 focuses on the foundations of quality improvement.

With COVID-19 rates lower than the pandemic's peak, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is resuming usual survey activities. This Aug. 31 webinar is designed to provide skilled nursing communities with information and practices to prepare for licensing and certification surveys.