On Monday of this week, Massachusetts Senior Care Association (MSCA) was pleased to participate in the Western Massachusetts Healthcare Summit hosted by UMass Amherst. The session began with a keynote by Kate Walsh, Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Secretary Walsh spoke to strategies to achieve EOHHS’ mission of competitiveness, affordability, and equity including the state’s program to help repay student loans for qualifying nurses. It was reported that $3.4 million in loan repayments have gone to 154 nurses that work in skilled nursing homes or home care. Following Secretary Walsh, there were three panel discussions, including Breakthroughs and Barriers in Senior Living moderated by Senator Jo Comerford of Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester districts and featuring Maggie Messer from Integritus, Angela Williams from Center for Extended Care at Amherst and Susan Misiorski from MSCA.
Panelists shared accomplishments including leveraging the resident care assistant (RCA)/nurse aide in training opportunities to recruit and rapidly upskill nursing assistants through the certification process, the implementation of the Massachusetts Career Ladder Program to upskill Certified Nurse Aides (CNAs) to Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and the new opportunity for nursing facilities to implement a Certified Medication Aide Role. Panelists also spoke to ongoing challenges including the impact of the staffing shortage and inadequate funding on access to care. Misiorski shared that the current vacancy rate for RN’s, LPNs and CNAs is 16% statewide, while Western Mass is at 22%. Panelists urged lawmakers in attendance to continue to invest in nursing facilities through improvements in reimbursement, expansion of grants to nursing programs outside of the community college system, and investments in nursing career ladder programs that allow more individuals to advance to Registered Nurse.
