Today, the DPH released guidance on the COVID-19 Booster Dose Vaccination in long-term care facilities.

Today the DPH released updates to Caring for LTC Residents During the COVID-19 Response and LTC Surveillance Testing guidance, DPH has also provided updated guidance on COVID-19 Personnel Vaccination Requirement in nursing homes specifically related to facility vaccination documentation requirements and clinical considerations for unvaccinated staff, Strengthening Long Term Care Workforce Development Partnerships webinar, and MSCA-MedPro international nurse recruitment partnership.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is inviting healthcare facilities to participate in a webinar series conducted by CDC due to the concerning increase in C. auris cases and other multi drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in the state, and across the country. The first webinar in the series is scheduled for Monday, September 27, 2021, from 12:00 pm -1:30 pm.

MassHealth has asked provider associations to disseminate the request below in regard to a MassHealth survey on Robotics Processing Automation.

Effective October 1, 2021, MassHealth will require that nursing facilities complete the additional fields found in sections GG, I, and J of the MDS that are associated with Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) classification for all MassHealth members residing in a nursing facility. These PDPM

This webinar, offered by the Massachusetts Senior Care Association and the Mass Workforce Association, will support long term care facilities with developing partnerships with local MassHire Career Centers, and Workforce Boards to help meet facilities’ workforce needs and provide job opportunities for unemployed individuals.

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is calling on state lawmakers to allocate a portion of the state’s surplus tax collections and funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support nursing facility residents, their families and caregivers through a Nursing Facility Recovery and Sustainability Proposal. Citing the worst staffing crisis in history and the COVID-19 pandemic which have devastated the financial stability of the nursing facility sector and led to disruptions in access to care for vulnerable seniors, Mass Senior Care’s Recovery and Sustainability proposal calls for $559 million in vital nursing facility investments in resident care, workforce and modernizing nursing facilities to create more homelike settings of care.

The Massachusetts Senior Care Association and the Mass Workforce Association webinar will support long term care facilities with developing partnerships with local MassHire Career Centers, and Workforce Boards to help meet facilities’ workforce needs and provide job opportunities for unemployed individuals, CMS launches new Medicare.gov tool to compare nursing home vaccination rates, AHCA has posted on its website a pre-recorded webinar which discusses the latest Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting guidance, and EOHHS issues 2022 user fee update, effective July 2021.

Beginning today, September 20, 2021, all healthcare regions of the state will be designated as Tier 3, Long-Term Care Booster Vaccination Updates, and the next DPH monthly call is scheduled for Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 11:00 a.m.