HFAM Update
Friends:
First, let's take a moment to honor you and your teams for the quality care you provide to Marylanders in need while we navigate better days of the COVID-19 pandemic and look ahead to the long road of recovery.
Maryland Board of Nursing (BON)
Governor Hogan's most recent executive orders extended the medical licensure renewal deadline to August 15, 2021. Across all healthcare settings, there are approximately 47,000 outstanding licensure renewals of LPNs, RNs, CNAs, and GNAs at the Maryland Board of Nursing (MBON). Please have you teams file as soon as possible for licensure renewal. Please note that online renewals are preferred.
We continue to advocate with the Board of Nursing to allow temporary GNAs to practice 120 days beyond the end of the state emergency on July 1, 2021. In Maryland, this would allow temporary nursing assistants to practice until Friday, October 29, 2021. In the meantime, we strongly urge temporary GNAs to enroll in full training programs now if they want to continue working long-term.
ImmuNet
The most recent Maryland Department of Health (MDH) amended nursing home matters order requires that all skilled nursing facilities register in ImmuNet as a COVID-19 provider by July 15, 2021. Once centers are registered, they can receive COVID-19 vaccines directly. It is critical that you register ASAP and before the July 15 deadline. Click here for a registration guide. If you have any questions, please email mdh.mdimmunet@maryland.gov.
National Guard Tactical Teams
I want to offer profound and genuine thanks to the Maryland National Guard Tactical Assistance Teams. They conducted vaccinations and continue to be an onsite resource to our sector. In the coming days these teams will be further divided into teams of two and assigned to 10 (ten) distinct regions in Maryland. Their mission, resource, and duties as our partners will include:
NOTE: I am very excited for the help these teams will provide with mandatory ImmuNet registration.
Finally, I want to give a shoutout to Deborah Crandall, JD, Ph.D., Executive Fellow, Office of the Secretary, MDH, for her leadership and the coordination of her colleagues in the recent highly successful J&J clinics held in our sector. Thank you!
“Know Your Risk” Campaign:
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) recently launched “Know Your Risk,” a new statewide campaign to raise awareness and prevention of prediabetes. Marylanders are encouraged to take a one-minute online quiz to assess their risk for prediabetes, discuss the results with their doctor, and make lifestyle changes if necessary. The campaign supports prevention goals outlined in Maryland’s Diabetes Action Plan, the state’s multi-faceted strategy to address diabetes over the next decade.
According to the Maryland Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 10.5 percent of Maryland adults have diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.6 million, or 34 percent, of Maryland adults have prediabetes, a condition of elevated blood sugar that could lead to type 2 diabetes. However, 9 out of 10 people with prediabetes know neither their status nor their risk for diabetes.
HFAM is committed to our partnership with MDH and others to advance the vital work to significantly improve population health targets such as diabetes. As we have often shared relative to chronic health conditions generally and diabetes specifically, that many of the frontline healthcare heroes working in Maryland hospitals, skilled nursing centers, and assisted living campuses are just a single health episode away from becoming a patient themselves.
To help in this work, HFAM has partnered with GivHero, an app that engages employees in high-value health and wellness challenges through intrinsic motivation and connection to social causes. We are looking forward to hosting additional health and wellness challenges over time and finding ways to engage employees of the long-term and post-acute care sector to improve health outcomes. Be on the lookout for a new GivHero challenge coming soon!
As Always:
- Focus on what is in your control and not what is out of your control.
- Overcommunicate.
- Adapt and innovate.
- Rely on your partnerships.
- Speak up when you need help.
- Double efforts on infectious disease protocols, training, and operations.
- Take and document your action; keep a timeline.
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CLICK HERE for the Dr. Katz Video, and please see the Donning and Doffing Checklist we have been sharing
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Joe DeMattos
President and CEO
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Comply with OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards by July 6
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) to address exposure to COVID-19 to workers in health care settings. These standards apply to skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, and Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally Disabled (ID/DD).
Employers must comply with most of these standards by July 6, 2021. There are exceptions to the sections on physical barriers, ventilation, and training, which must comply by July 21, 2021.
In addition, a webinar reviewing the ETS and the implications for AHCA/NCAL members is available.
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Other COVID-19 Updates
CMS Updates Emergency Preparedness Exercise Exemption: CMS issued an updated memo (QSO-20-41-ALL) this week that provides new guidance around when an inpatient provider may be exempted from its next required full-scale exercise. Read More
NHSN to Update Reporting Modules: Beginning July 8, NHSN will make multiple updates and modifications to reporting modules. Read More
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Free Counseling, Stress Management and Crisis Support for Long-term Care Staff
Counseling Stress Management and crisis support is available for staff at assisted living facilities, group homes, as well as nursing homes. The Maryland COVID-19 Crisis Support Program offers free, confidential counseling support to ALL employees of Maryland’s long-term health care facilities impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Services are also available in Spanish. Learn more about receiving support services for yourself or your organization. Fill out this form or, for urgent requests, call 1-800-648-3001. For questions, email miemss.crisisresponse@maryland.gov.
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The 2021 HFAM Conference “Together We Re-Imagine” will be held in person October 4 – 7, 2021 at the Maryland Live Hotel and Casino in Hanover, Maryland. Hundreds of long-term care leaders will connect, share best practices and discuss actionable insights on how we can reflect, reform, rebuild, and revolutionize quality care. You and your teams will not want to miss this opportunity as we come together again.
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Thank you to our current sponsors! |
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COVID-19 Resources
What you need to know.
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#Get Vaccinated
With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the AHCA/NCAL Get Vaccinated campaign now has a dedicated website –getvaccinated.us – to help educate and encourage caregivers and staff at long-term care facilities to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The website includes credible information from medical professionals, public health officials, and scientists to help answer common questions about the vaccines among staff members and other individuals.
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Did you miss an update?
Visit our website to view all previous HFAM alerts, as well as guidance
from our federal and state partners.
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