COVID booster shots must be available to all long-term care residents: governor
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 30, 2021
Bracing for the new omicron variant of COVID-19 to make its way across the border from Canada, the governor of New York is stepping up efforts to get booster shots into the arms of long-term care residents.
3 more states join lawsuit challenging CMS COVID-19 vaccine mandate
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 29, 2021
Attorneys general in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio joined more than a dozen states last week in challenging the legality of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ mandate of COVID-19 vaccines for...
Minnesota governor activates National Guard to support skilled nursing facilities
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 24, 2021
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is activating the state’s National Guard to form skilled nursing “response teams” that will provide support to facilities experiencing worker shortages. He also is proposing...
Federal judge rejects Florida AG’s case to block vaccination rule for healthcare workers
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 23, 2021
U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers on Saturday denied a motion by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody asking for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order against the Centers for Medicare...
CT Health Department fines more than 100 long-term care facilities for noncompliance with COVID-19 reporting...
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 23, 2021
More than 100 long-term care facilities in Connecticut have been fined a total of $19,000 to date for failure to report their compliance with Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) executive order 13F that gave long-term...
12 more states sue to block CMS vaccine mandate
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 17, 2021
A group of 12 states filed a lawsuit Monday against the Biden administration in an attempt to block its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, asserting that the requirement is unconstitutional and violates...
Proposal aims to prevent temporary staffing agencies from ‘gouging’ long-term care providers
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Nov 16, 2021
Pennsylvania lawmakers plan to introduce legislation as early as this week to set maximum rates that temporary staffing agency personnel can charge, to end a practice of “gouging” the state Medicaid...
New York AG asks Supreme Court to reject healthcare workers’ anti-vax mandate suit
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 15, 2021
New York Attorney General Letitita James urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to deny a request from a group of New York healthcare workers for an injunction against the state’s COVID-19 vaccine...
Business briefs, Nov. 15
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Nov 15, 2021
State rep files bill to ban vaccine mandates in Oklahoma … Fitch Ratings affirms Meadowood long-term rating at BBB; outlook stable … Kraus-Anderson completes $24M SNF in MN … New Perspective, Boldt...
Tougher building code penalties implemented in wake of deadly assisted living fire
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Nov 11, 2021
A new law implementing mandatory penalties for repeated building code violations was signed into law just months after a deadly assisted living fire in New York led to the deaths of a firefighter and a...