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05/06/2021

Today's COVID-19 Report: Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Here are the latest need-to-know updates for Wednesday, May 12 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and other topics of importance.

Off the Record

“In St. Augustine Health Ministries’ 50-year history, to my knowledge the organization has never faced workforce challenges like today. For the first time in our history, we have had to reach out to agency staff in order to serve our residents.” 

Rick Meserini, CEO of St. Augustine Health Ministries (Cleveland), from a meeting this week with the office of State Senator Nickie Antonio.

“We’re getting ready to start our golf league. We’re getting ready to start our bocce ball league, our pickleball and shuffleboard leagues ... we’re really getting back to doing that engagement with our residents, and everyone’s really excited about it.”

Jason Miller, VP of operations at Otterbein SeniorLife, in a recent Dayton Daily News article.

In Today's Report

You asked... We answered regarding eye protection

You asked:

Do all staff have to wear eye protection if the county positivity rate is greater than 5%?

We answered:

No, only staff who are in an area where there may be a resident encounter. LeadingAge Ohio received confirmation today from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) that they are now aligning with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance which states that eye protection as universal source control can be worn just in care areas when there is moderate to sustained spread.

ODH had previously required all staff to wear eye protection when the county was yellow or red. ODH went on to note that per CDC’s The Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Spread in Nursing Homes webpage, for areas with moderate to substantial community transmission, eye protection should be worn during patient care encounters to ensure the eyes are also protected from exposure to respiratory secretions. If in a facility where there is opportunity for staff to have spontaneous interaction with residents who may require assistance while in the hall or common areas that would not allow staff the opportunity put on eye protection before the interaction, it is certainly reasonable to have staff wear eye protection when they are in areas where these encounters with residents could potentially occur.

Nursing home rule requiring reporting of COVID-19 vaccination

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule designed to ensure long-term care facilities, and residential facilities serving clients with intellectual disabilities, educate and offer the COVID-19 vaccine to residents, clients, and staff. These requirements apply to Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities and Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs-IID) and align with existing requirements for influenza and pneumococcal vaccines in LTC facilities.

The interim final rule released yesterday with comment period that requires nursing homes to do the following:

Nursing homes that fail to report vaccine rates or therapeutics will be cited under existing F884. Recall that failure to report under F884 also carries associated Civil Monetary Penalties. Nursing homes that fail to provide education and offer vaccination to residents/representatives and staff will be cited under new F887. This rule is an interim final rule with comment, which means that the requirements go into effect immediately. Comments on the rule are due July 11. The rule is available for review here. CMS released memo QSO-21-19-NH to provide interpretive guidance. The CMS press release is available here.

CMS also announced a National Nursing Home Stakeholder Call tomorrow, May 13 at 4:00PM to discuss the new rule. Subject matter experts will provide an overview of the new rule and answer trending questions.

Registration is required to join the call.

While this announcement is specific to LTC facilities and ICFs-IID, CMS is also seeking comment on opportunities to expand these policies to help encourage vaccine uptake and access in other congregate care settings, such as psychiatric residential treatment facilities, group homes, and assisted living facilities.

Multi-faceted leadership: Adult day business and operations webinar - Thursday, May 20

Whether managing one center or multiple centers in different states, multi-faceted leadership demands are high. The National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA) is offering a webinar to provide a leadership framework that includes priorities on three levels: 1) 5000-foot view: attention to federal & state interface; 2) continuous monitoring of the business for alignment with key performance indicators and survivability; and 3) monitoring and adjusting day-to-day operations in an evolving COVID-19 environment to align with continuous quality improvement.

Objectives of this session include:

For cost information and/or to register, please click here.

Montessori for Dementia training funded by a CMS/ CMP grant, opportunities for LeadingAge Ohio members

LeadingAge Ohio has been contacted by Monarch Pathways & Center for Applied Research in Dementia to learn whether member facilities are interested in Montessori for Dementia training, a non-pharmacologic approach for responsive behaviors in persons with dementia. If funded by CMS/CMP, the program will consist of 2 hours of online training, followed by 6 months of 1-hour live Q & A and case studies to help staff apply Montessori principles to address responsive behaviors. These live Q & A sessions will be recorded so multiple shifts can view later. The study anticipates collection of data on medication usage before and after the training/coaching sessions. The Memorandum of Understanding provides additional details on the study. If you would like more information, reach out to Joe Caracci, Business Relationship Manager and Consultant, Monarch Pathways & Center for Applied, Research in Dementia at (717) 645-8381. To schedule an appointment, please click here.

LeadingAge Ohio PAC Trivia returns on Thursday, May 27 to tackle sports

This winter, the LeadingAge Ohio Political Action Committee (PAC) held a virtual trivia series on Zoom-enabled platform Kahoot, covering topics like movies, history, and politics. Due to popular demand, PAC trivia is back for one more special session this spring! This time, we are tackling sports on Thursday, May 27 from 5:30-6:30PM.

Attendees can compete to win Amazon and Starbucks gift cards. Join us in this fun, easy way to network with other members, share some laughs, support LeadingAge Ohio political efforts, and show off your knowledge. This event is open to all members – from leadership, to clinical, dining, activities, facilities, and don't forget, residents! If you didn’t play this winter, don’t worry – the Kahoot platform is easy to use and the session will feature a short lesson before trivia kicks off.

Information about registration for individuals and groups, as well as sponsorship opportunities, is available here.

LeadingAge Need to Know

LeadingAge shares the latest coronavirus news and resources with members twice each weekday. This morning's Need to Know featured information on the upcoming Collaborative Care Summit.

Check out the full report here.

                                                     Linkage Connect
                        

Questions

Please send all questions to COVID19@leadingageohio.org. Additionally, members are encouraged to visit the LeadingAge Ohio COVID-19 Working Group facebook gro up to pose questions to peers and share best practices. LeadingAge is continuing its daily calls for all members.  To participate in these daily online updates, members should register here.  

LeadingAge Ohio is working to ensure that the information in our daily alerts, on our website, and all coronavirus-related communications is as accurate as possible. However, LeadingAge Ohio makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the information. 

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