The residents of Elizabeth Seton Residence walked or wheeled measured laps through the building for the past month and they recently reached their goal of a collective 26.2 miles, the distance of the Boston Marathon.

If you want to recruit talent in today’s competitive market, you need to adopt the digital tools available like social media and online job posting websites. But how can you make sure you’re investing your resources in the right places and getting the most out of what the tools have to offer?

Mass Senior Care has been notified by several members that upon signing into the NHSN web portal they have received an “Annual Survey” document .

The DPH sent out a reminder to nursing homes that COVID-19 vaccination information must be reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) by 11:59 p.m. each Sunday, the next DPH monthly call is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, October 13 at 11:00 a.m, and Mass Senior Care Association is pleased to announce a new exclusive benefit designed to assist member nursing facilities.

In September 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) commissioned a Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes report. The main purpose of the report was to solicit lessons learned from the early days of the pandemic and recommendations for future actions to improve infection prevention and control measures, safety procedures, and the quality of life of residents within nursing homes. Earlier this week JAMA issued a follow up interview with one of the co-authors of the report, Terry Fulmer, a geriatric nurse practitioner who is president of The John A. Hartford Foundation.

The Massachusetts Health Council (MHC) Annual Awards Celebration will be held virtually on Tuesday, October 26th at 4:00 pm. MHC will be including a special tribute to long term care heroes and essential workers who showed up like none other during the COVID-19 crisis. Mass Senior Care and our members will be featured in the special tribute.

The Joint Committee on Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use & Recovery held a public hearing related to parity and equity for people who have a substance use disorder (SUD.) Helen Magliozzi, Mass Senior Care’s Director of Regulatory Affairs testified in support of Senate Bill 1273 and House Bill 2122, Acts Relative to the Safe Care of Residents with Active Substance Use Disorder Accessing Skilled Nursing Facility Care. The legislation filed by Senator Julian Cyr, Leader James O’Day, and Representative Sean Garballey would establish a Post-Acute Care Substance Use Disorder Council under the direction of the Department of Public Health to establish standards and a payment model for special care units in skilled nursing facilities for the purpose of meeting the care needs of residents with opioid use disorder.

Mass Senior Care last week sent to members a detailed summary of the 2022 Medicaid nursing facility regulation which included a link to EOHHS website that provided facility specific case-mix rates, effective October 1, 2021. EOHHS has indicated that facilities will also receive rate letters with the full component breakdown via email this Friday, October 8th.