STATE NEWS

Is Your Organization’s Name on the List? If Not, Please Take Action
According to the latest report, these are the only LeadingAge Kansas members that are registered with Battelle for COVID testing: Ascension Living Via Christi Village Georgetown, Attica Long Term Care Facility, Bethany Village, Cedar Lake Village, Prairie Sunset Home, Prairie Mission Retirement Village, Red Bud Village, Sandstone Heights and Village Shalom.

It is important that all members register with Battelle, even if you are currently using another source for testing and do not plan to use Battelle at the current time. If you are not already registered, contact Maleah Slaughter at the Midwest Coordination Center or phone her at 1-614-424-3381.

Kansas COVID-19 Cluster Summary      
As of January 5th, there are 17 long-term care facilities with clusters and 6 are LeadingAge Kansas Members.
 
 Statewide Active COVID-19 Clusters     

• Clusters: 176
• Cases: 1,793
• Hospitalizations: 40

Kansas COVID-19: Case Rates     

• Cases: 482,232
• Total Case Rate Per 1,000: 165.53
• Daily Cases Diagnosed: 650

Long-Term Care Facilities with Active Cluster Case Information

• Clusters: 84   
• Cases: 758
• Hospitalizations: 30

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

FEDERAL NEWS

January 6 Health and Human Services Virtual Event
On December 30th, Health and Human Services (HHS) held a virtual town hall on COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Mark your calendar: this Thursday, January 6^th at 2 PM Central, HHS will hold a follow-up virtual event for aging services providers with CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and CDC Director Rachelle Walensky.

Update on the CMS Interim Final Rule and OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard
The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments on January 7, 2002, for the challenges to both the CMS Interim Final Rule (IFR) and OSHA Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). It is anticipated the Court will rule soon after oral arguments because some of the deadlines for compliance with the OSHA ETS kick-in on January 10^th. Also, we should get a good indication from the oral arguments and questions asked by the justices on how they will ultimately decide on the vaccine mandate injunctions.

• The OSHA Vaccination and Testing ETS remains in effect. OSHA will not issue any citations for noncompliance with any ETS requirement until January 10^thand will not issue any citation for noncompliance with the testing provisions of the ETS until February 9^thso long as employers are “exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.” All providers should be preparing diligently to comply with the OSHA Vaccination and Testing ETS. Moreover, now that the June 2021 Healthcare ETS has expired, the OSHA Vaccination and Testing ETS now applies to all providers with 100 or more employees. Note – recordkeeping provisions of the June Healthcare ETS are still in place and OSHA plans to enforce workplace safety through the OSHA general duty clause so providers need to continue to ensure a safe workplace under OSHA rules. The medical removal benefits, however, are no longer in effect. LeadingAge Kansas members with 100 or more employees must be prepared to comply with the OSHA Vaccination and Testing ETS – even though we are a state where an injunction of the CMR IFR rule is currently in place.
• CMS IFR Enforcement. On December 28^th, CMS updated its guidance and is now moving forward with enforcing the vaccine mandate in the 25 states where there is not an injunction in place. (An injunction IS IN PLACE for Kansas.) CMS updated the vaccine mandate compliance dates to January 27^th (phase 1) and February 28^th (phase 2) respectively, and the guidance contains additional information on how it will be enforced.

This is a mess for providers currently and hopefully the Supreme Court decision will clarify these issues – one way or the other.

Here is a summary that addresses the OSHA Healthcare ETS expiration and another article that discusses the interplay between the OSHA and CMS rules.

Second PRF Reporting Period Opens 
The federal Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting portal for providers to begin entering data to submit their second period PRF reports is open. Providers who receive more than $10,000 in PRF payments in each payment period are required to report how those funds were used. Second period PRF reports will cover PRF payments received July 1 – December 31, 2020, which include Phase 2 and Phase 3 general distributions and Nursing Home Infection control distributions and incentive payments. The deadline to submit the second period report is March 31, 2022. If you have questions about PRF email Nicole Fallon nfallon@leadingage.org and cc Bob Dick bdick@blandcpa.com (LeadingAge Kansas Reimbursement consultant.)

VACCINATION NEWS

CDC Shortens Booster timing recommendation
CDC revised its guidance on Booster Shots yesterday to shorten the time from the last primary dose to the booster for Pfizer-BioNTech. The new interval is five months. It is still six months for Moderna.

Kansas COVID-19 Vaccination Overview     

• 3,908,024 Total Doses Reported as Administered     
   – First Dose: 1,859,003
   – Second Dose: 1,488,579
   – Third Dose: 560,442
• 4,893,690 Total Doses Distributed     
   – State Distributed: 2,838,920

59.6% of Kansans Vaccinated with One Dose   

51.5% of Kansas Completed COVID-19 Vaccine Series

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

LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS

Weekly Webinars are Back in 2022
Join us this Friday to get all of the latest updates, clarifications and more on COVID-19. Don’t forget, we answer your burning questions during this time. We are ready. This Friday Janine Finck-Boyle and Cory Kallheim from LeadingAge national will be on hand to talk/answer questions about OSHA ETS and the Supreme Court case on OSHA ETS and the CMS vaccine mandate. Webinars are on Fridays at 10 AM. Register for 2022 here.

Please Complete Our Survey About Temporary Staffing Agencies.
Deadline January 6^th. The survey, which is a joint effort with KHCA, will help us better understand the staffing agency landscape and to advocate on your behalf during the 2022 state legislative session.

LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS

LeadingAge Coronavirus Update Calls  
Trying to encourage staff to accept boosters (or even initial vaccines)? Having problems parsing CDC quarantine/isolation guidelines for “everyone” versus those for health care workers? You’re not alone. Check out our upcoming Update Calls for more on these and other current policy developments.

• January 5^th at 2:30 PM Central. Dr. Leslie Eber, President of the Colorado Medical Directors Association and Medical Director at Rocky Mountain Senior Care will talk about working with staff members to encourage them to accept booster doses of vaccines. She’ll also answer operational questions about vaccines and about Omicron.
• January 10^th at 2:30 PM Central – Dr. Nimalie Stone of CDC will explain the most recent CDC guidance on isolation after a positive test, the December 23 updated recommendations for healthcare personnel and strategies for mitigating staffing shortages, CDC’s work to promote boosters and other CDC issues. As always, Nimalie will explain things clearly and directly and take caller questions.

VALUE FIRST NEWS

Value First PPE and Testing Update
McKesson, Value First’s preferred distribution partner, supply chain update:

• The Quidel Quickvue and CareStart rapid antigen tests are still available if your community is in need.
• With either rapid test option please allow for a minimum two-week backorder delay, they are anticipating continued supply for now.
• Due to the very high demand, you may still be requested to limit orders to a 30-day supply.
• McKesson has begun to see some challenges with keeping gowns in continual supply. Orders will be fulfilled however increasing your lead time would be suggested.
• Additional PPE supplies continue to be readily available however plastic and paper products have become harder to stock consistently.
• Continue to be in close contact with your McKesson representative with the additional needs you might have: Scott Fleet (816.305.7177)  scott.fleet@mckesson.com

Should your community have challenges finding any product in high demand, please reach out to ann@leadingagekansas.org.

RESOURCES

How a LeadingAge Member Is Creating an Advanced Role for Direct Care Staff
Read a new member story showing how Trinity Health Senior Communities has partnered with PHI to develop an advanced CNA job description, “transitions specialists,” to serve post-acute clients before, during, and after their rehabilitation stays. Such advanced roles can help in both recruitment of new staff and retention of current employees. The LeadingAge Story Collector powered by Greystone makes it easy to tell us your story. Try it today.

Other Resources about Vaccines

• 10 Myths About Coronavirus Vaccines: Separating fact from fiction when it comes to getting vaccinated against COVID-19
• The Truth About COVID-19 Vaccines and Infertility 
• Why COVID Vaccines are Falsely Linked to Infertility 

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