Stay Connected - LeadingAge Illinois COVID-19 Resources
Stay up to date on state and federal COVID-19 information and updates by accessing the
LeadingAge Illinois COVID-19 Resources
page. You can also engage with other Illinois members through our listservs, connecting you with your peers by provider type. We have now added a
COVID-19 listserv
. Contact
LeadingAge Illinois
if you’d like more information about the listservs or would like to join one.
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Urge Congress to Provide Immediate Relief to Aging Services Providers
Aging services providers are struggling to obtain ample personal protective equipment, adequate testing and resources for older Americans during this crisis. Congress needs to
provide immediate relie
f, but won’t take action unless they hear stories from providers about the issues they are facing during the pandemic.
Take Action Now!
Use your voice and tell Congress why action is urgently needed:
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Testing Resources
LeadingAge Illinois and Value First continue to track resources for testing to provide to our members. We will keep you updated on legitimate information we receive. Here is a look at some of the information and resources we have gathered to date (we will keep a running list updated in the newsletter):
Sales Specialist
219.508.6206 (Cell)
844.522.8847 (Support)
631.532.1680 (Fax)
Provides testing, supplies and results
Provides testing, packaging and results ($100 each test)
800-533-1710
Does not include lab processing.
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IDPH COVID-19 Webinars Update
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is hosting webinars to provide COVID-19 updates and answer questions from long-term care and congregate residential settings.
IDPH will be recording the webinars and sending out the links of the recordings.
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Testing Update
LeadingAge Illinois continues to meet with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) twice per week on COVID-19 issues. One of the primary issues discussed is testing.
Rules:
- The emergency rules (effective May 28 for a maximum of 150 days) that went into place recently on testing state that a copy of the facility’s infection control policies and procedures shall be provided to the resident and the resident's family or representative. We are still seeking clarity from the Department on if the aforementioned policies and procedures are all of them or just those specific to COVID-19. The Department did indicate in the last two meetings that facilities can place the policies on their websites and do not have to provide in printed form. The facility would need to alert residents and families that they can be found on their website.
- LeadingAge Illinois has been speaking with legislators on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), requesting a re-write of the rules to bring forth more clarity. This would give us an opportunity to provide more input.
- Quick refresher on the current rules:
- Facilities must add testing for infectious diseases to infection control policies and procedures.
- Test all residents and staff when an outbreak occurs in the facility or when the risk of disease transmission is high and IDPH directs facilities to conduct this testing.
- Comply with infection control recommendations provided by IDPH or the local health department.
Testing Template:
Those who attended the IDPH webinar in June 4 regarding testing received a Testing Template from Michael Moore at IDPH. The Department said it is intended to be an outline to help you lay out how you will do testing.
We will keep you updated on the latest information related to testing in our newsletter.
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Reopening Plan Update
LeadingAge Illinois and the Illinois Health Care Association (IHCA) are nearing completion on a comprehensive plan to be submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on
reopening strategies for nursing homes and assisted living communities
.
We have discussed reopening issues in the recent meetings with the Department. We have requested that IDPH form a reopening task force for nursing homes and assisted living that includes the associations and providers to be involved in discussions with public health officials on the plans. This is something that is going on currently in other states.
We will keep you updated on the progress of the plan.
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Governor Pritzker’s Daily Press Conference Updates
Governor JB Pritzker is now conducting the COVID-19 press briefings now only on an as needed basis. He indicated they may be just once per week.
Click here to listen.
LeadingAge Illinois monitors the briefings daily for information coming directly from the Governor and Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).
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LeadingAge Submits Letter to Vice President on PPE
Yesterday, LeadingAge sent a
letter
to Vice President Mike Pence on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In the letter, Katie Smith Sloan, President and CEO of LeadingAge, suggested that he personally investigate mounting evidence that FEMA shipments of PPE are deeply delayed, frequently stocked with useless and expired supplies and delivered in quantities radically insufficient to help protect older Americans from the coronavirus.
Further, nursing homes across the country have not received clear and helpful communications about what to expect and when to expect it. The letter asks that he address these issues seriously and thoroughly, and take swift action to ensure Americans can trust the federal government to serve their interests.
FEMA Packages:
Also on the PPE front at LeadingAge, Ruth Katz, Senior Vice President of Public Policy/Advocacy at LeadingAge, met yesterday with the HHS Health Care Resilience Team, including the External Engagement lead (who works in the Office of the Director of CDC), the FEMA national supply chain representative, the CDC nursing home lead and the FEMA point person who works on guidance for reuse of PPE.
Colonel Brian Kuhn explained that the Hanes underwear masks are not meant for COVID patient care. They are separate from HHS,CDC and FEMA. These masks come in packets of five and truly are contributed by Hanes. They are somewhat randomly being sent to nursing homes and increasingly to meat packing plants.
FEMA packages do not say FEMA on them. They are being shipped via UPS and are marked with the CMS logo on four sides, but not on the top and bottom. No explanatory letter or material is included so it is not likely most people would realize what they are. The blue gowns that look like tarps are FDA-approved to be at the highest AAMI certified level (AAMI sets standards for this kind of equipment).
Three-Minute Member Survey Regarding PPE:
LeadingAge urgently needs a snapshot of the current state of personal protective equipment and testing among the membership.
Please answer these fast questions
to help assure the reality on the ground is reflected clearly in the media.
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LTCF COVID-19 Module Enrollment Refresher – May 2020
The National Health Safety Network (NHSN) has several resources to help you with submitting your data for nursing home reporting. You can review the
video,
and
powerpoint slides
. Visit their
website
for other resources, as it is updated frequently due to the number of inquiries.
Source: CDC
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) COVID-19 NHSN Reporting Requirements for Nursing Homes
The reporting
requirements
for nursing homes became effective on May 8, 2020, when CMS published their
interim final rule
with comment. CMS memo
QSO-20-29-NH
provides additional information for nursing homes to meet COVID-19 reporting requirements including details about a grace period prior to enforcement. CMS is only collecting nursing home (i.e., skilled nursing facility and/or nursing facility) data and not assisted living or developmental disability facility types.
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U.S. House Briefing on Nursing Homes and COVID
The U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (created to monitor the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic) held a briefing “examining the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on nursing home residents and workers.”
There were five witnesses, including a family member whose mother died of COVID-19 in a nursing home in Louisiana, a CNA from Chicago, Dr. David Grabowski from Harvard, Eric Carlson from Justice in Aging, a legal services program representing consumers and Phil Kerpen from American Commitment, a free-market research organization.
LeadingAge is setting up a meeting with subcommittee staff to address LeadingAge’s priorities and especially to help the committee understand the crisis from the perspective of our all our members.
LeadingAge’s goals are:
- obtain significantly more funding,
- national policies to address the need for PPE and testing,
- broadening out of attention to the full aging services community rather than just nursing homes.
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CMS Guidance on Residents’ Stimulus Checks
Yesterday, CMS put out a
press release
with the reminder that seizing residents’ stimulus checks is a violation of the regulation governing Freedom from Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation. Nursing homes who seize these checks could be subject to federal enforcement actions, including potential termination from participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
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HUD Regulatory Progress Chart
As LeadingAge continues to press HUD for urgent actions to support housing providers serving older adults, they have taken stock of the progress and the outstanding actions needed from HUD. The
LeadingAge progress chart on HUD’s COVID-19 regulatory response
is categorized by management operations and financial support for providers, outlines the status of the action from the agency, and includes links for members to access more information on each regulatory item.
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We Have a New Website
We have exciting news to announce. We have a new website! In addition to a new look and feel, the website now includes improved navigation to search for articles, information, and education; a unique login for each individual; the ability to track attended education; and more.
Logging in to the new website will allow all LeadingAge Illinois members to:
- access members-only content, such as materials in the resource library and newsletters in the newsletter archive
- receive member-discounted pricing for webinars and in-person education
- begin tracking education they have taken
To begin, click on 'Log In' in the green box below and log-in using your e-mail address and password.
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For security purposes, you will receive your individual password in a separate email shortly after receiving this email. We recommend that you change your password as soon as possible. You can do this by clicking on
this link
.
If at any point you forget your password or need to reset it, you can click the “Lost your password?” link on the log in page.
Please take a few minutes to log in, update your information, view resources and member benefits, and peruse upcoming education.
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Value First PPE Update
The LeadingAge Illinois and Value First team continue to work to keep you updated on PPE and items needed for the reopening phases in your communities. We encourage you to continue to work with your trusted food, medical and janitorial distributors for your supply needs. However, we are also aware our "normal" channels may still be working to catch up with demands and allocations are still in place. See this
letter
from LeadingAge Illinois/Value First.
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Chicago Fair Work Week Ordinance Begins July 1
As you may recall from our previous editions of eNews, the Chicago Fair Work Week Ordinance goes into effect beginning July 1, 2020. Essentially, it requires certain employers to have flexible and advance notice scheduling.
Applies to:
- Private employers with over 100 employees. This includes employees that work outside of Chicago if the employer has a Chicago base.
- Non-profit corporations with over 250 employees.
- Employers with over 50 employees who work mainly in the City and make $50,000 (salaried employee) or $26.00 per hour (hourly employee).
- If an employer that has union employees and is involved in a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that predates the Ordinance’s effective date, they are to follow that agreement if it conflicts. An agreement made after the Ordinance’s effective date must include language that waives the Ordinance requirements.
- Does not apply to home care.
Ordinance Requirements:
- Notices:
- You must give all of your new employees estimations in writing of the days and hours of work within 90 days of their start date.
- You must post a work schedule at least 10 days in advance for employees who make $50,000 (salaried employee) or $26.00 per hour (hourly employee).
- Predictability Pay. You are required to pay your employees one hour of this pay for each shift change that occurs after that 10 day schedule notice.
- Additional Shifts. You have to offer the additional shifts to your current part-time employees first, then to full-time employees and then to temporary or seasonal workers.
- You must give at a minimum, 10 hours of rest between shifts, unless the employee consents to a shorter rest period in writing and you pay them at least 1.25 times their regular rate of pay.
This only applies to the City of Chicago. There has previously been state legislation in the Illinois General Assembly and we will continue to monitor any legislative proposals that could arise next spring session.
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LeadingAge Illinois Monthly HUD Member Call Set for June 16
Please join us for the next monthly LeadingAge Illinois HUD Member Update on June 16 at Noon. These calls feature Linda Couch, Vice President of Housing Policy and Juliana Bilowich, Director, Housing Operations and Policy at LeadingAge, Washington, D.C. You will receive important updates on HUD and COVID-19 issues. There is also time for sharing best practices, asking questions and discussion. RSVP to
Jason Speaks
.
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LeadingAge Live Online Coronavirus Daily Member Update
LeadingAge is hosting daily live online updates each weekday afternoon. Subscribe to "LeadingAge Need to Know" via communications preferences in your
MyLeadingAge account
to receive email updates.
Register
for live online updates 5 days/week at 2:30 p.m.through June. You can find an archive of all member updates
here
.
Also, if you’re a member of both LeadingAge Illinois and LeadingAge National, stay connected with other LeadingAge National Members and share information and resources through the
MyLeadingAge
Member Community: COVID-19
. This is a place to connect with your peers to share and discuss everyday practices related to the coronavirus virus. Take a moment now to log into your
my.leadingage.org account
and
join the group
to stay connected. LeadingAge also has a COVID-19
webpage
with the latest updates, information and resources for members.
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Argentum COVID-19 Webinar Series
Join Argentum every other Monday from 12-1:15 p.m. for member webinars on mitigation strategies as we work together as one industry to combat COVID-19 while ensuring a calm, safe environment for our employees, residents, and families. They are complimentary for Argentum members.
Webinar Series:
- 75 Minutes:
- Critical Updates (First 15 Minutes)
- Audience Q&A (Last 25 Minutes)
Upcoming Webinars:
June 15:
HR Considerations as States Reopen.
This webinar will address staffing challenges related to COVID-19, and employment law considerations as communities increase screening and testing in states that are reopening.
Register.
June 29:
Preparing for COVID-19”s Long-Term Business Impact.
COVID-19 is a human tragedy. The long-term business impact of this tragedy has many economists predicting China’s first decline in GDP since 1976. A panel of experts will review these market implications and how to be better prepared.
Register.
July 13:
The Regulatory Aftermath of COVID-19.
This webinar will cover how the pandemic has re-shaped the regulatory landscape at the federal and state levels, considerations for keeping up with these changes, and what to expect after the crisis has passed.
Register.
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Leadership and the LGBTQ Senior in the Age of COVID-19 (Webinar)
June 23
1:30-2:30 p.m.
1.0 CEs will be offered.
1.0 hours of general CLE credit pending in Illinois, New York and California
Presenters:
- Donna Sue Johnson, Licensed Social Worker, St. Mary's Center, Inc. / Adult Day Health Center
- Dan Churchill, Chief Financial Officer, The Admiral at the Lake; Board Member, Project Q, Boston, Massachusetts
- David Alfini, Esq., Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP; Board Member, One Roof Chicago
As a leader, it is important to understand the unique needs of the LGBTQ community and how COVID-19 has impacted them from a clinical and emotional perspective. The presenters will discuss who the LGBTQ population is and why understanding this will help you better serve the population. Additionally, learn how to avoid the risk management pitfalls and take advantage of opportunities with the LGBTQ resident to better understand needs. Registration information will be available soon.
Sponsored by:
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