Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board Meets for The First Time

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Erin Huppert

The Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, created during the past legislative session, met for the first time last Thursday.

The Board will be able to set minimum employment standards, certify worker organizations to provide training, and create curriculum training requirements. We continually shared our concerns as legislation to create this Board moved through the process during the 2023 Session. Nevertheless, we are thankful for and proud of the employer representatives on the workforce board who are contributing to this process, including LeadingAge members Katie Lundmark (Ecumen) and Mary Swanson (Avera).

State law requires the Board to adopt its first rules by Aug. 1, 2024, with a presumed January 2025 effective date.

Kari Thurlow, President and CEO, shared her thoughts with McKnight’s: “We expect this group to operate with transparency and join in our shared goal of ensuring seniors can receive the care they need, when and where they need it. For years, we have tirelessly advocated for legislative action to prioritize funding for wage increases. This Board will have to wrestle with the fact that they don’t have the power of the purse strings to fund their recommendations.”

The Board will meet on the first Tuesday of every month. To subscribe to the Board’s notifications and view recordings of their public meetings, go to: https://www.dli.mn.gov/about-department/boards-and-councils/nursing-home-workforce-standards-board.