News

Too often, the loudest voices in senior care focus on challenges and shortcomings. But across Minnesota, providers are demonstrating excellence, innovation, and high performance. Our new series, Quality in Action, aims to spotlight these success stories—highlighting senior care organizations that are achieving exceptional results through their commitment to quality and safety.

The Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has been accepting grant request applications for its workplace Ergonomic Safety Grant Program since summer 2023. To date, 75 of 79 awarded grants have been provided to nursing home applicants with several more requests due to be awarded soon.

During a roundtable on Tuesday, April 15, Governor Tim Walz said: “If you think we’re in a crisis now, especially for seniors living in rural Minnesota, cut Medicaid and find out what happens. There’s no way the state of Minnesota can come close to back filing what’s lost.”

The slow developing HCBS workforce incentive grant program, which was created and funded by the 2023 Legislature, has still not reached the point of sending money to employers, despite a plan to have done so by the end of March.

Assisted living facilities that provide customized living (CL) services to people on the Brain Injury (BI) and Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) waivers must follow specific limitations based on the setting’s CL enrollment date.

The Office of Higher Education's (OHE) Dual-Training Pipeline Grant is open for applications until April 15.

Nursing homes must now submit off-cycle revalidations by August 1. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) enacted a final rule in November 2023 implementing portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which added a section to the Social Security Act related to ownership, management, and related parties.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has released changes to the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers should review their current I-9 form’s expiration date and begin integrating the new I-9 form into their employee verification systems and processes.

HUD has released its income limits for affordable rental communities, effective 4/1/2025.    These income limits are used by providers of affordable rental property to help a property determine eligibility criteria.

The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care has opened the application period for the 2025 Workplace Safety Grants for Health Care Entities. Application submissions are due by 4:30 p.m. on June 13. Long-term care facilities are eligible to apply for funding with awards up to $50,000.

Is your organization receiving job seeker matches? CaringCareersStartHere.com is helping connect job seekers with long-term care employers and elevating careers in aging services across the state.

Are you involved in fundraising for your organization? You’re invited to be part of our Fund Developers Professional Network — a supportive community of peers working in senior care.

Earlier this week, Vista Prairie Communities (VPC) is pleased announced the return of Kacey Kasel, RN, BSN, PHN, LALD as a Regional Director of Operations (RDO). In this expanded leadership role, Kacey will provide additional operational support to VPC’s communities, ensuring a continued focus on excellence in care, team development, and resident well-being.

Nura is opening a new clinic in Woodbury to make specialized pain care more convenient for people on the east side of the river. We are excited to begin seeing new patients on April 24. Our goal is to provide exceptional, personalized care to help those living with pain find relief and improve their quality of life.

Vista Prairie Communities is pleased to announce the addition of Lisa Klockmann as Executive Director at Vista Prairie at Ridgeway (on 23rd and on German).