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The new assisted living licensure rules include extensive requirements for disaster planning and emergency preparedness. The Minnesota Department of Health rule incorporates federal preparedness standards that take effect on Aug. 1.

LeadingAge Minnesota’s popular annual conference for business office professionals, Billing University for Care Centers, will be offered in virtual format on Aug. 10 and 11.

In May and June, the LeadingAge Minnesota Board of Directors officially approved 46 new members into the Association's ranks. Of the new members, 33 are provider members, 2 are associate members, 2 are individual members, and 9 are business partners.

Our Lady of Peace, a LeadingAge Minnesota member, has begun a capital campaign to expand the 21-bed residential hospice center at Cleveland and St. Anthony avenues. According to a recent Pioneer Press story, “the administration is looking at a $4 million expansion that could tentatively begin in December and allow for single-room occupancy.”

Our team has created a new resource to support assisted living facilities with understanding and implementing the emergency preparedness requirements contained in the so-called "Appendix Z."

Last week, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) clarified the final steps providers need to complete to receive their assisted living license by Aug. 1.

The requirement for an assisted living licensed setting to inform a prospective resident of the availability of and contact information for long-term care consultation services continues as we transition to assisted living licensure.

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

Many skilled nursing facilities are planning ahead to transition caregivers and Basic Care Aides into Registered Nursing Assistant positions. The 1135 Waiver and corresponding Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) approvals that allow nursing assistants to work without being on the Registry still apply. However, there is growing concern amongst members regarding transitioning in advance of the waiver’s discontinuation.

The Minnesota State Legislature has passed the Health and Human Services (HHS) budget bill for the next biennium, and the bill has been signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz. The passage of this legislation, a bill that lawmakers heavily debated, is a critical step in finalizing a state budget before the new fiscal year on July 1. Since the bill is now law, there will be no shutdown of health and human services programs even if lawmakers fail to agree in other budget areas.

A top legislative priority for LeadingAge Minnesota this year has been to secure hero pay bonuses to employees in senior care settings. Last week, legislative leaders announced an agreement to set aside some funding for hero pay bonuses. But until recently, we had few details. This weekend, lawmakers adopted an amendment that laid out a process to finalize hero pay bonuses this summer.

After nearly 16 months, the State’s Peacetime Emergency will end on July 1. A deal was struck between legislative leaders to end emergency powers in exchange for several stipulations related to food benefits, state COVID-19 staffing, and vaccination efforts. Just last week, Gov. Walz announced at a press conference that he intended to end the emergency peacetime declaration on Aug. 1, but this end-of-session bargaining moved up the timeline.

The 2021 virtual Institute included more than 100 educational sessions, all available for viewing and earning CEUs through July 31.

On June 29 and 30, a two-part virtual webinar series, Assisted Living Licensure Clinical Workshop, provides nurses an in-depth review of the new clinical requirements for the assisted living license.

The Assisted Living Licensure Sampler is a curated selection of 11 sessions from the Institute related to Assisted Living Licensure (ALL) and is available for purchase.

AARP Minnesota's state director, Will Phillips, is pursuing a new leadership opportunity as the regional vice president for the AARP West Region, effective June 28. To fill his position, AARP Minnesota is seeking a new state director.

LeadingAge Minnesota is now taking orders for the much in demand assisted living manual, The Essential Guide to Assisted Living in Minnesota.

CMS has extended a regulatory flexibility relating to emergency preparedness exercises.

Under CMS regulations, nursing facilities are required to conduct two emergency preparedness testing exercises annually – with exercises alternating between full-scale functional exercises and exercises of choice (mock drill, table-top exercise, workshop).

Under assisted living licensure, everyone who resides in the licensed assisted living setting is a resident by definition. We continue to work through the implications of the definition of your requirements as an assisted living provider, but several components are known.

The legacy pathway for the Licensed Assisted Living Director (LALD) sunsets at the end of the month, and applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on June 30. If you don't hit the apply by then, you’ll need to meet the new Assisted Living Director or Assisted Living Director in Residence requirements that begin on July 1. Application verifications such as transcripts, resumes, official employment verifications can be sent in AFTER July 1 if needed.

As lawmakers work to complete their work to agree upon a two-year budget before July 1, legislative leaders announced an agreement to allocate $250 million for Hero Pay bonuses for frontline workers during the pandemic.

The 2021 virtual Institute included more than 100 educational sessions, all of which are available for viewing and earning CEUs through July 31.

Learn about important new requirements for clinical departments related to the new assisted living license. On June 29 and 30, a two-part virtual webinar series, Assisted Living Licensure Clinical Workshop, provides nurses an in-depth review of the clinical requirements for the assisted living license.

LeadingAge Minnesota's Connect Conference for Senior Housing, Assisted Living, and Home Care is scheduled for Oct. 27-28 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center.

A curated selection of Assisted Living Licensure sessions from the Institute has been packaged as a sampler that organizations may purchase to share with staff. The sampler includes 11 sessions which may be purchased individually or as a package.

Our fifth annual LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation Silent Auction is rapidly approaching and will occur this year as part of the 2021 Foundation Golf Tournament rather than our usual Institute event. Can we count on you to help us make this year's auction a success? Our goal is to raise $10,000, and all proceeds from the Silent Auction are used to provide educational scholarships to eligible caregivers and other employees of our member organizations.

The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on June 10 issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect healthcare workers from contracting coronavirus.

One of the new minimum requirements for assisted living licensees under 144G.41, Subdivision 1 is to utilize a person-centered planning and service delivery process. While each resident is currently assessed and participates in developing their service plan, there is a specific definition for this new assisted living requirement.

On Monday, June 14, Governor Walz called a special session to finalize and pass a two-year state budget. At the outset of the special session, only a few committees had publicly announced their joint agreements with the remaining budget areas having until June 30 to finalize unresolved details to avoid a state government shutdown. Here is what you need to know about what is happening at the capitol this week:

The Minnesota Board on Aging has moved the state policy for pre-admission screenings for nursing facility admission to the Senior LinkAge Line website. The document on this site, which replaces two previous bulletins (19-25-02 and 19-25-03), will be updated regularly as pre-admission screening and level of care policies change.