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Last year, we recognized the first fifty-one LeadingAge Minnesota members who had been named to the Safe Care for Seniors Action Honor Roll. This year we are on track to recognize several additional organizations that have demonstrated key actions within each of the 5 Safe Care Action Steps. We will also be recognizing our first group of members who have achieved the highest level of Safe Care – the Excellence Level.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services, through the Nursing Facility Rates and Policy (NFRP) Division and the State Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) Initiative, is seeking proposals from qualified Minnesota Medicaid-Certified Nursing Facilities that are interested in implementing a Cycling Without Age (CWA) Program.

Our partners at LeadingAge Housing Advisory Group now have five Workgroups to share information among members, to improve programs, and to inform LeadingAge advocacy to HUD and to Congress.

On February 19, HUD opened the application period for Calendar Year 2021 (CY21) Service Coordinator program renewals in GrantSolutions. Under a compressed timeline for the delayed grant renewals, applications are due by March 22, with disbursements projected for June or July.

Under CMS emergency preparedness 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). 

The Minnesota Department of Health will host a presentation regarding assisted living licensure and customized living (waiver services) on Thursday, March 4, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

In a message sent to current licensees last week, the Board of Executives for Long-Term Services and Supports (BELTSS) communicated several important messages to currently licensed Nursing Home Administrators.

Assistant Majority Leader Karin Housley (R – St. Mary’s Point), Chair of the Minnesota Senate Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee, and Sen. Kent Eken (DFL – Twin Valley), the committee’s ranking minority member, will join LeadingAge Minnesota members for a bipartisan discussion about long-term care issues at this year’s LeadingAge Minnesota Week at the Capitol.

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Today we’re focused on the drive to be perfect (or darn close). It’s not inherently bad; in fact, it has propelled many of us to get to our current status in personal and professional arenas. It can, however, take its toll on our well-being to be in pursuit of perfection versus accepting of “good enough.”

According to a Minnesota Department of Health survey reflecting data through last Wednesday, 98% of care centers have completed two vaccination clinics, and almost all assisted living settings had completed a first clinic. Additionally, 12% of assisted living had conducted a second clinic, a number which will rise rapidly in the next couple of weeks.

LeadingAge Minnesota members operating in rural Minnesota can now access a second round of COVID-19 related grants through LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation (LAMF).

The Minnesota Office of Management and Budget will release the February Forecast, a major indicator of the financial health of the state, this Friday afternoon. Lawmakers and policy experts anticipate an improved economic situation from the December Forecast and are beginning to have conversations on how it will influence the two-year budget-making process already well underway. Here is what you need to know about what’s happening at the Capitol:

The Department of Human Services is further amending temporary modifications to certain licensing requirements for Adult Day Services to allow more people to receive services and to allow license holders to increase daily shift hours.

Effective Feb. 17, the following licensing requirements are modified for adult day centers:

Next Gen Governance for a Next Gen World is a two-part workshop designed for executive and board teams to explore governance practices that help our organizations emerge strongly through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Applications for the 2021 Leadership Academy are now open. This immersive leadership development program begins with a June virtual session with plans to resume in-person meetings as soon as it is safe to do so.

We are proud to introduce a new Safe Care for Seniors virtual workshop designed for those of you who are new to the program. The 3-part program will begin on Tuesday, April 6 and continue weekly with subsequent sessions on April 13 and 20.

Lifesprk been named a Top USA Workplace and #1 in healthcare for mid-size companies in the Top Workplaces Industry and Culture Excellence Awards.

Ecumen, a nonprofit provider of housing and services for older adults, has announced that Jim McAlpine has joined its senior management team as senior vice president, legal affairs and corporate general counsel.

The Aging and Adult Services Division at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking proposals from providers to improve the overall quality of customized living services. Qualified responders must have provided customized living services in calendar year 2020 (i.e., between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020) to people on the following waivers:

Two grant opportunities are available to support community-based services and dementia care: Live Well at Home Grants through the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and Dementia Grants through the Minnesota Board on Aging.

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation (LAMF) has just been awarded $475,000 in funding to provide COVID grants to rural LeadingAge Minnesota members.

The CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) team will offer trainings to review updates to the LTCF COVID-19 Module, Resident Impact & Facility Capacity Pathway, that took effect in late November 2020.

Congress is now in the process of considering the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package proposed by President Biden. This legislation, being considered through a budget-reconciliation vehicle that only needs simple majorities in both the House and the Senate and may be passed exclusively with Democratic-votes.

Last week, the Board of Executives for Long Term Services and Supports (BELTSS) updated the projected time frame for licensed assisted living director (LALD) applications to be available. We now anticipate that the applications will be available in April for those eligible as legacy directors.

With Governor Walz announcing a loosening of social and business restrictions, the legislature is giving greater attention to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. This week, lawmakers will be focusing on how the vaccine is affecting virus infection rates as well as its disbursement to vulnerable population groups, especially seniors. Here is what you need to know about what’s happening at the Capitol:

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Grief and resilience: you can have both!

You probably understood that going to work in a senior care facility meant you would experience death more often than people working in other environments. However, expecting this and going through it are quite different things – especially when death rates are (sometimes significantly) higher than usual as we’ve seen during the COVID pandemic.

According to data collected by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), resident vaccination rates remain high and staff vaccination rates are improving.

A recent Star Tribune story on Minnesota OSHA inspections raised questions from a few LeadingAge Minnesota members. The story was not specific to health care or to long-term care, but it did note that MNOSHA had fined a nursing home for not reporting that one of its employees had been hospitalized with COVID-19.

While COVID-19 cases in aging services settings have fallen sharply in recent months, we know the virus is still having a serious impact on many providers.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) wishes to remind providers that it continues to have resources available for nursing homes and assisted living providers that need support:

On Feb. 16, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released a new document COVID-19 Recommendations for Health Care Workers that reviews diagnostic testing of health care workers (HCW), management of HCW exposure to COVID-19, HCW return to work, guidance for ill HCW and travel recommendations for our staff. Additionally, within the guidance document, MDH cites several already existing documents that informed the creation of this resource.