Friends:
Congratulations to Deborah Graves, President and COO of Levindale Hospital for being named a 2021 Leader in Health Care by the Baltimore Business Journal! Deb is an Executive Committee member on the HFAM Board of Directors, but more importantly, she is a dedicated, brilliant, and passionate servant leader with tireless devotion to quality care and to her team. All of you have been heroes during this now nearly two-year battle with COVID-19. In many instances, each of us has known someone in your care. In my case, I have known many people in many of your centers during our battle with COVID-19. In the case of Deb and her team, she saved at least one very dear friend of mine who traveled a VERY rough acute and post-acute care road. Thank you Deb! While I know you did not seek this award, please know that you most certainly deserve it!
I also my to offer my personal and HFAM’s organizational heartfelt congratulations to Neil Meltzer, President and CEO of Lifebridge Health for again being named a Health Care leader by the Baltimore Business Journal, and for being the kind of leader, boss, colleague and friend we all admire. And, a heartfelt thanks to Lifebridge Health for being a valued and engaged member of HFAM.
Maryland Department of Health Cyberattack:
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) website and system operations continue to be challenged by the cyberattack of last weekend. With this unexpected and unfortunate event, we stand in support of our MDH colleagues and are helping in any way we can. We ask for all to understand the challenges created by such an attack, and the need for an abundance of caution as MDH explores bringing all systems back online.
On Wednesday HFAM asked MDH if the attack would impact the monthly payment to skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers and other Medicaid settings currently providing care to Marylanders in need. In two memos yesterday (one and two) and one today, MDH confirmed that Medicaid payments would be impacted. The MDH memo issued today said, “Only claims submitted prior to the system shutdown on 12/5/2021 will be included in this weekend’s (12/12/2021) MMIS provider payment cycle. Claims submitted on or after 12/5/2021 will not be included, and providers will not receive payment for those claims. This also means that there will be no payment in the upcoming remittance advice of 12/11/2021 for LTSS Maryland providers.”
MBON License and Certificate Holders:
Licensure, re-licensure, background checks, and payments for records at the Maryland Board of Nursing (MBON) are also impacted. Earlier this week LeadingAge Maryland asked MBON about the impact of the outage on their operations, and today on learning of the specific impact, we asked MDH to take steps to ensure licensed professionals continue to be able practice despite their renewal requests being stranded by the computer systems outage. On this, please see this memo we just received from MBON.
Per this memo:
- “… the Board cannot complete any licensing or certification transactions, including, but not limited to, issuing new licenses or certifications and renewing existing licenses and certifications. In addition, the Board currently does not have the ability to access licensee or certificate holder profiles to provide application status information. For those who have recently submitted electronic applications for licensure or certification (either initial, endorsement, or renewal), there is no need to resubmit your application, as that data is being stored and will be processed in the order it was received as soon as the network security incident is resolved. Constituents who wish to drop off documents, including paper applications for licensure and certification, at the Board's physical location may continue to do so, but only during normal business hours (8:30 am - 4:30 pm daily, except on Wednesdays when business hours are 9:30 am - 4:30 pm).”
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The Omicron Variant:
Our battle against COVID-19 has taught us that vigilance, teamwork, exhaustion, endurance, science, and hope are all very much tangible. On December 23, 2020, we joined together and with Governor Hogan, the federal government, and our private sector partners at CVS and Walgreens we rolled out the largest vaccine deployment in several decades. We learned in the following weeks that the vaccines worked! Unfortunately, around this time last year we were also at the beginning of a winter/holiday surge of COVID-19 that proved worse than the original surge in the spring of 2020. Despite our best efforts, we can unfortunately expect those numbers to again increase around the holidays. Yet, with our continued vigilance and our ongoing push for vaccinations and boosters, we can manage these outbreaks and prevent deaths. Together we will hope that the vaccines and the boosters remain effective against the Omicron variant and that this variant’s symptoms remain mild and mortality remains low.
Now is NOT a time for any of us to let down our guard – together, we must continue advocating for people to receive the vaccine and the booster. We are eternally grateful to Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adrienne Jones, as well as Cherie Taylor and Renee Harris of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington for recording this HFAM public service video to help encourage people living and working in skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers and on assisted living campuses to get vaccinated—and to get the booster!
As Always:
- Focus on what is in your control and not what is out of your control.
- Let’s get those boosters and the flu vaccine in the arms of people.
- Overcommunicate – with residents, patients, families, staff, and government partners.
- 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.
Onward together and at your side!
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Joe DeMattos
President & CEO
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Want to see previous HFAM updates?
Visit our website to view all previous HFAM alerts, as well as guidance
from our federal and state partners.
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