At last week’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting, Tara Gregorio, President of Mass Senior Care Association, celebrated the long term care provider community’s achievements over the past year and shared the Association’s blueprint for helping members to address their persistent workforce challenges. “Today, I am extraordinarily proud and grateful to all of you to report that Massachusetts nursing facilities have achieved universal vaccination of our workforce with 98.3% of our staff vaccinated and 1.7% with approved declinations,” said Gregorio. ”This milestone is a direct testament to the hard work of nursing facility staff coming together to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their residents, each other and their families.”

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) today began releasing the $7.5 billion American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution, the Commission of Public Health issued COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Order No. 2021-14 and Guidance Regarding Non-Essential, Non-Urgent Scheduled Procedures for hospitals, and the Massachusetts Division of Insurance released a bulletin to all commercial insurers and HMOs on Relaxation of Prior Authorization and Credentialing Procedures in Response to Health Facility Staffing and Capacity Constraints.

As COVID-19 cases continue to sharply rise across the Commonwealth and with CMS identifying all counties at high transmission rates, Mass Senior Care strongly encourages long term care facilities to prioritize booster shots for all staff. Also, to better support members with their efforts to increase booster uptake rates, please take a minute to complete a very brief survey.

Today, DPH issued revised Updates to Visitation Conditions, Communal Dining, and Congregate Activities in Long-Term Care Facilities following the COVID-19 State of Emergency guidance.

Secretary Marylou Sudders' letter to families of long-term care residents on celebrating Thanksgiving and winter holidays with their loved ones who reside in a long-term care facility, and MassHealth has issued a FAQ document regarding treatment of assets for LTC and LTSS MassHealth members during the Federal Public Health Emergency (FPHE).

Today, DPH released updated Comprehensive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) guidance, CMS and the CDC will hold a National Nursing Home Stakeholder call on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, 2:00 pm-3:00 pm ET, and Extension for Surveillance Testing Report due on Friday, November 26th.

On November 12, 2021, the Commissioner of Public Health issued Public Health Order No. 2021-13 which extends the authorizing of the issuance of temporary licenses for certain providers, and renewal or reactivation of certain temporary licenses.

CMS updated its guidance for nursing home visitation, CMS also released changes to COVID-19 survey activities to address the backlogs of complaint and recertification surveys, and DPH sent a memorandum to municipal and volunteer MA ambulance services that do not currently provide interfacility transfers (IFT).

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