VACCINE NEWS

Kansas COVID-19 Vaccination Overview  

  • 350,989 People Vaccinated    
  • 506,401 Total Doses Reported as Administered  
     – First Dose: 350,989  
     – Second Dose: 155,412
  • 694,720 Total Doses Distributed  
     – State Distributed: 570,360  
     – Federal LTC Program: 124,360   
  • 12.0% of Kansans Vaccinated with One Dose

Source: https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data 

STATE NEWS

KDADS/KDHE Long Term Care Testing and Vaccine Webinar – Friday, February 26th @ 3 PM
This webinar will cover updates on COVID-19 testing and vaccine support. Scott Brunner from KDADS and Jean Duwve from KDHE will be presenters. Topics to be covered:

  • Updates on testing support and visitation guidance
  • Updates on antigen test offerings
  • Check in on the testing status report
  • Updates on vaccine distribution plans
  • Time for Q&A

If you have any questions that you would like addressed during this session, please send to Scott Brunner at Scott.Brunner@ks.gov right away.

Click to join Zoom Meeting

Kansas COVID-19 Cluster Summary   
 As of February 24th, there are only 3 long-term care facilities with clusters. None of those affected by clusters are LeadingAge Kansas members.

Statewide Active COVID-19 Clusters  

  • Clusters: 156
  • Cases: 9,409 
  • Hospitalizations: 308

Kansas COVID-19: Case Rates  

  • Cases: 292,837  
  • Total Case Rate Per 1,000: 100.52
  • Daily Cases Diagnosed: 248  

Long-Term Care Facilities with Active Cluster Case Information  

  • Clusters: 59
  • Cases: 1,754 
  • Hospitalizations: 174

Source: https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas 

FEDERAL NEWS

Emergency Rental Assistance
The US Treasury Department has updated guidance for the new Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program, which helps cover housing costs for renter households financially impacted by COVID-19.  Under its updated FAQs, the Treasury Department has eased access for qualifying households, including allowing HUD-assisted older adults to be eligible for ERA assistance and allowing applicants to self-certify their financial hardship eligibility for the program. The Emergency Rental Assistance program will help bring stability to some of the estimated renter households at risk of eviction and will help reimburse housing providers for rent receipt loss during the ongoing crisis.

LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS

Seeking Images of Staff and Residents in Masks
We need your help – can you send us pictures of your staff and residents wearing masks? We would like to update our website, materials and much more with pictures of the people who make up our membership. This is your association, and we want to showcase you. We welcome the following shots:

  • candid images of residents and staff interacting
  • images of staff teamwork
  • images of testing/running tests
  • images of vaccine clinics
  • images of families visiting (for those who are able to do so)

We already have some great pictures – we can’t wait to see more.

Send your pictures to Dana Weaver at dana@leadingagekansas.org.

Register for our Weekly Webinar
Join us for an updateabout the coronavirus and about the 2021 Legislative Session, Fridays at 10 AM. Register here.

This is the Last Week of Coping with COVID
Join us to work through the trauma of the impact of the pandemic on aging services providers. Register for Thursday at 4 PM

LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS

A Message from Our Board Chair
LeadingAge Board Chair, Carol Silver Elliott, offers this message to members about moving forward. 

I would contend that we have to shift from being reactive to being proactive, to thinking about the future and defining our preferred future. We know that there will be dramatic increases in the number of older adults. We also know that their needs and preferences will not be the same as the generation who preceded them. How do we anticipate their needs? How do we begin to rethink and retool so that we stay both relevant and viable?

Read the entire message from Carol on ending inertia and claiming the future of our field.

PR Resources Available
The attacks on nursing homes have amped up again in recent weeks, as I’m sure you all have seen.  We created a suite of materials you can use with media – proactively or in response to queries. The set of backgrounders is designed to help capture how the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis — especially in nursing homes — and has highlighted the long-term systemic problems in how nursing homes are staffed and funded. They include an overview explainer, a pandemic timeline, a snapshot of nursing home funding, and a summary of the policy changes needed to beat COVID and save older Americans’ lives.

Below a draft note you can customize send to key reporters and ed boards to share some of these materials (in addition to having them in your packet for report calls). If you do send it out, be sure that you have a member story or two that helps back up the financial costs nursing homes are facing.

We also created a new messaging platform, which you could use if any of the reporters you send notes too asked to chat. Note that these are not meant to capture in-depth details on any single issue – nor should they be published or read verbatim — instead they can be a touchstone you can use when addressing nursing homes.

SAMPLE ED BOARD NOTE:

Dear ___,

I’m connecting back because Congress will soon decide whether to allocate the resources needed to ensure that older Americans and the providers who serve them survive the pandemic intact. Here in <OUR STATE> and across the country, COVID costs are continuing to mount for aging service providers, while income has fallen substantially. <INSERT EXAMPLES OF STATE MEMBERS>.

Without real relief, more nursing homes will be forced to close. LeadingAge members are calling on Congress this week to allocate more relief that prioritizes older adults — including a call for additional Provider Relief Funds to help struggling care providers, and fulsome support for older adults in affordable housing settings, which is absent from current proposals.

But we can’t just put a Band-Aid on the systemic problems that the pandemic has made worse. America’s aging services system has been neglected by our society for generations. To help bring clarity to this issue, we released a suite of background materials highlighting the long-term problems in how nursing homes are staffed and funded and explaining how the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis.

I hope you find these materials interesting.  I’d be happy to continue our conversation in the near future.

RESOURCES

Nursing Home Staffing During COVID
Today the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Project ECHO released “Staffing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Guide for Nursing Home Leaders.”  The short document outlines steps to reduce or eliminate urgent staff shortages, particularly shortages of direct care workers.

THANK YOU TO OUR SILVER PARTNER

Previous articleKING Safety Grant
Next articleCOVID-19/Novel Coronavirus Update 3-1-2021
Avatar photo
Nicole Schings
Nicole Schings is the Director of Member Services and Business Development. Nicole joined the association in 2018, and oversees our Member Services program, our Partnership and Associate Member relationships, and our online education system. A graduate of Washburn University, Nicole uses her 22 years of experience in the association world to enhance the support of our members, problem solve their issues and bring new partners into the LeadingAge Kansas family. Outside of work, Nicole is passionate about geocaching and moments spent with her dog, Blu. You can reach Nicole directly at 785.670.8048.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR