Legislative Update
Health Facilities Association of Maryland
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Friends,
The people who work in our sector have always been heroes. From housekeeping and maintenance to nurses, therapists, and physicians, it takes real skill and a genuine heart to show up every day to provide quality care to Marylanders in need.
COVID-19 shone a bright light on our heroes and made their work even more life and death. Three stories about the employees in our sector that have at times gotten lost as we continue to fight COVID-19:
- They were heroes all along.
- They fought tirelessly to save lives and every life lost is to mourned.
- Perhaps most importantly, healthcare heroes have saved thousands of more lives than not over the last year.
The employees of our sector – maintenance crews, nurses, therapists, physicians, dietary staff, and as the son of a cleaning lady, especially housekeeping – have always been at the center of my work and focus at HFAM. Please click here for a piece I wrote in McKnight’s in 2017.
Throughout this pandemic, we have looked for ways to support our healthcare heroes, seeking messages of encouragement from Maryland leaders, holding a lunch to celebrate heroes last year, and simply delivering doughnuts to show appreciation.
Today, I am pleased to announce two additional ways that HFAM is supporting healthcare heroes in our sector. We are thankful for our partnership with First Financial Federal Credit Union and GivHero. Read more below!
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First Financial Federal Credit Union
First Financial Federal Credit Union and HFAM have aligned in partnership to bring credit union membership, financial savings, and educational resources to our healthcare heroes and their families. I am a life-long credit union member. My first car loan and first mortgage were both with the state employees' credit union. As the son of a cleaning lady and a federal civil servant, the credit union shaped my financial future for the better. I want that opportunity for our sector's healthcare heroes and their families.
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GivHero
Given my family history, I also worry about health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity that can impact employees’ health. We are excited to inform you of our new partnership with GivHero. GivHero engages employees in wellness challenges through connection to social causes. It’s an easy, fun way to stay active and engaged in wellness while raising money for a good cause.
Participants “compete” to meet health and wellness goals on a daily basis. If these daily wellness goals are met, HFAM makes a contribution to a charity of the center’s choosing.
Daily goals are simple tasks, such as walking 5,000 steps per day or checking in with a colleague. Progress is recorded and can be viewed through the GivHero app. Participants can even sync the app with their smartphone or fitness tracker so everything is automatically recorded.
HFAM is launching our first wellness challenge with FutureCare Canton Harbor in April. Stay tuned for additional wellness challenges for your teams to participate!
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Upcoming Events and Education Opportunities |
Ongoing Discount
CEUSrEZ
CEUSrEZ is proud to partner with The Health Facilities Association of Maryland and The Maryland Center for Assisted Living to provide its members NAB approved, discounted online continuing education – CEUs made “EZ”!
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March 30
The COVID Catalyst: How the pandemic will create opportunity in referral networks
Learning objectives:
Understand how COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of the fee-for-service system
Take advantage of a disrupted market to defend or acquire their place in hospital referral networks
Gain clarity on what Acute-care organizations are looking for from a preferred post-acute partner
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COVID-19 and Vaccination
Finally, while we are at the lowest point a year as a nation on COVID-19 cases and deaths, the mid-west is seeing an increase in cases and the positivity rate is inching up in some communities here in Maryland. We MUST remain diligent in our sector in terms of infectious disease protocols.
This is all the more urgent because the State of Maryland has not yet operationalized a plan to continue vaccinating residents, patients, and staff in our setting after the completion of the CVS/Walgreens program several weeks ago. There are literally thousands of new patients and residents in Maryland skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, as well as hundreds of new employees.
The good news on the vaccine front is that, according to a new survey by OnShift, between December 2020 and March 2021, willingness of long-term care staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine increased by 94 percent, and plans to decline decreased by 41 percent.
The survey also examined the reasons behind vaccination decisions and employee perceptions of the value of vaccine education. Additional key findings include:
- The respondents’ primary reasons for vaccination are to help prevent infection in family and friends (30 percent), to avoid getting COVID-19 themselves (13 percent) and to put an end to community lockdowns, gathering restrictions and/or virtual schooling (12 percent).
- The respondents’ primary reasons for declining vaccination include concerns that the vaccine is too new (26 percent) and potential safety and side effects (23 percent). Another 10 percent believe getting the vaccine is unnecessary because they have already had COVID-19.
- Sixty-two percent of respondents expressed their willingness to take the vaccine in the March 2021 survey, up from 32 percent in December 2020.
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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As Always:
- People first, quality counts.
- Be prepared to deploy people and PPE around your organization.
- Our sector MUST double our efforts on infectious disease protocol, staffing, PPE, observation, and testing.
- Train, train, and train teams again on infectious disease protocol.
- Recognize that COVID-19 fatigue is an issue across the county, not just in our sector.
- Overcommunicate with residents, patients, families, staff, and government partners.
- Sound alarms early.
- Know that WE WILL get through this and that you are saving lives!
- Work with your hospital partners, and coordinate with local and state regulatory partners.
- 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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Health Facilities Association of Maryland Conference |
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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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