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November 24, 2009 |
Vol 16, Issue 51 |
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FAHSA would like to wish you, your
staff, and your family a happy and blessed
Thanksgiving. We ask that you remember those less
fortunate and those that have and are currently
serving in our Armed Forces during the upcoming
holiday season.
In observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday, the FAHSA
office will be closed on Thursday & Friday, November
26 and 27, 2009. Emergency staff numbers are listed
below in the General News section.
Welcome to this week's edition of the FAHSA Link.
FAHSA's Innovation Exchange Corner Features
"Landscape Therapy" at Shell Point --
FAHSA's Innovation Exchange Program provides members
with an opportunity to share ideas and best
practices with others and to recognize their staff
for extraordinary performance. This month, FAHSA is
showcasing "Landscape Therapy" submitted by Shell
Point Retirement Community.
At Shell Point, the residents are veterans of plant
propagation. Their Orchid House is a
resident-volunteer enterprise that was established
in 1986. A greenhouse of approximately 1,000 square
feet was built at a cost of $23,686, completely by
funds donated by the residents. The Orchid House is
run entirely by residents who participate in the
care and growing of the orchids. This is not only a
life-giving hobby for numerous residents, but the
whole community is blessed by the donation of many
of these orchids for special events.
In 2004, a nursery was begun as a holding area for
plants - delivered by vendors for projects and those
that had been removed or replaced. The role of the
nursery was then expanded to serve as a place to
nurture plants back to health. The next step in the
evolution of the nursery was to begin the
propagation of plant materials. Since then, a
potting bench has been established. They have
successfully created up to 60 plants from a single
plant stock.
Shell Point is fortunate to have a growing number of
residents and staff members who participate actively
in the life-giving activity of plant propagation. A
little bit of space, a little bit of money, and a
few people with green thumbs are all it takes to
begin this kind of project and to enhance the beauty
of a community.
To read more about "Landscape Therapy", please go to
the
FAHSA Innovation Exchange Web page.
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CCRC
/ Retirement Community News |
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Number of CCRCs Lower Than First Estimated
-- The number of U.S. continuing care retirement
communities-often estimated at around 2,500-is actually
fewer than 1,900, according to a new analysis by Ziegler
Capital Markets. Florida has 71 CCRCs but six are in
the final phase of converting to a rental without an
entrance fee. In addition to the 71, three are under
development.
The "Ziegler National CCRC Listing and Profile" 106-page
report includes information about ownership transitions
and conversions from non-CCRC status. Approximately 30%
of the CCRCs now under development are for-profit
status, far above the 18% figure for CCRCs already
operating. To order a copy of the analysis, please
contactJeffrey Girardi at
jgirardi@ziegler.com.
Source: McKnight's LTC Daily News, 13, 2009
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District and Membership News |
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FAHSA Speaks at FLiCRA Chapter and
Resident's Meeting - Janegale Boyd,
President/CEO and Mary Ellen Early, Sr. Vice
President of Public Policy spoke recently at a
FLiCRA chapter and resident's meeting held at the
Estates at Carpenter's in Lakeland. Janegale
provided information about trends, challenges,
opportunities, and roadblocks for aging services and
perspectives on the future. She also discussed
current issues impacting CCRC's and how services are
evolving in a changing market. Mary Ellen then spoke
about the proposed Constitutional amendment #5,
return to home, repackaging of bulk medications,
tort reform for nursing homes and CCRC legislation.
Legislative challenges for 2010, including a
projected budget deficit of $2 billion or more,
possible cuts in Medicaid funding and increases in
regulatory fees for OIR and AHCA were also
discussed. FAHSA is an advocate and welcomes the
opportunity to work with FliCRA and its members on
numerous issues affecting retirement housing,
long-term care and CCRC's.
FAHSA would like to welcome its newest
Members:
AHEPA 410 Apartments -- Ms. Darlene
Grigsby
Cathedral Terrace -- Mr. David Whitney
Heritage Creekside -- Ms. Kim Edwards
Methodist Place -- Ms. Gina Mora
MLF Towers, Inc. -- Ms. Barbara Jarboe
Peterborough Apartments -- Ms. Cheryl Case
St. Anne's Gardens -- Ms. Mercedes Pujals
St. Boniface Gardens -- Ms. Aleja Pagan
St. Vincent De Paul Gardens -- Ms. Blanca Albelo
The Haceinda, Inc. -- Mr. Scott Griffiths
Cypress Village -- Mr. Chris Callahan
Freedom Village of Sun City Center -- Mr. Peter
Budinski
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Education News
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White Paper Posted on Askew Web site
- A white paper, written by Dr. Lynne Holt, Policy
Analyst, Reubin O'D. Askew Institute on Politics and
Society, University of Florida, has been posted to
the Askew Institute's Web site, along with copies of
the presentations and handout materials from the
recent "Financing Long-Term Care in Florida"
meeting. The white paper, "A Perfect Storm in
Florida: Long-term Care" summarizes information
shared by expert presenters during the meeting and
discusses the future of Florida's demographics,
challenges and the spectrum of evolving aging
services. Download a copy of the paper and
presentations by clicking
here.
Register Now for FAHSA's 2nd Leadership
Academy - The first two-day onsite meeting
of the 2nd Leadership Academy class will begin on
March 25 and 26 in conjunction with FAHSA's
Legislative Workshop in Tallahassee.
Download a copy of the
brochure and register today. This is a
great course - but don't just take our word - please
read the comments below from a few of the current
participants:
Tina Corbett, Care Plan Coordinator, Lodge at
Cypress Cove, commented that the program was
organized, thorough and well-presented; definitely
worthwhile!
Jerome Bivens, Dining Service Director, Westminster
Suncoast, said, "The sessions were awesome and I am
taking away so many things that will help me start
new programs or improve on getting results from
current programs." Jerome believes that he will
become a better leader and improve the success of
all those around him after attending this course.
Lisa Lyons, Controller, St. Joseph's John Knox
Village, noted that the instructor's presentation
style and context was very enlightening and
entertaining. Her personal interjection made the
course most useful and she allowed the participants
to express ideas and gave solid solutions to common
problems.
Upcoming Educational Events:
Webinars:
- December 1, 2009 - CCRC Benchmarking
Webinar
- December 10, 2009 - Unemployment Tax and
Workers Compensation Webinar
- January 19, 2010 - Landlord Tenant
Issues Webinar
- February 16, 2010 - Detecting Abuse and
the Hotline Webinar
Workshops:
February 25, 2010 - CNA Train the Trainer,
Orlando
March 23 & 24, 2010 - Legislative Workshop,
Tallahassee
March 25 & 26, 2010 - 2nd Leadership Academy,
Tallahassee
Upcoming Regional Meetings: - Topic: Workforce
(more details to come)
- January 12 - Covenant Village, Plantation
- January 13 - Plymouth Harbor, Sarasota
- January 14 - Waterman Village, Mt. Dora
- January 15 - Advent Christian Village, Dowling
Park
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General News |
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FAHSA Office Closed on November 26-27 in
Observance of Thanksgiving - If you need to
reach a FAHSA staff person on Thursday or Friday,
please call one of the staff listed below. FAHSA
wishes you and yours a wonderful and blessed
Thanksgiving!
- Janegale Boyd, President/CEO (850) 294-3412
- Carol A. Berkowitz, Esq., Sr. Director of
Regulation and Compliance (850) 294-3391
- Gail Matillo, Director of Housing (850) 294-3415
CMS Issues Guidance on Survey and Electronic
Health Records -- The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services issued an August 14th guidance
memorandum which speaks to some of the issues involving
facility surveys and electronic medical records. In the
memo, CMS reiterates its commitment to HER and its
benefits for better patient care and reduced costs. The
memo supports the providers' right to choose whatever
electronic medical record system they wish so long as it
complies with Medicare participation requirements.
Although surveyors are expected to enforce the specific
health and safety requirements for confidentiality of
medical records, CMS is clear that the surveyors' role
is not to enforce HIPAA requirements. Providers must
grant surveyors unrestricted access to residents'
medical records; surveyors are cautioned however, that
printouts should be kept to an acceptable minimum. The
only parts of medical records that may be necessary to
printout are those needed to support findings of
noncompliance. Providers are asked to provide the
surveyor with a tutorial on how to use the EHR system
and designate an individual who will be available to
respond to surveyors' questions about the EHR system. A
copy of the guidance can be found at
http://www.cms.hhs.gov in the regulations and
guidance section.
Source: agenda, October 2009
Hire Heroes USA -- Those who attended
the AAHSA Annual Meeting in Chicago recently heard from
representatives of Hire Heroes USA, an employment agency
for veterans. Larry Minnix, AAHSA's President/CEO,
discussed the organization and recognized veterans on
Veteran's Day. A brief news item was then placed on the
AAHSA Annual Meeting Blog, (see the second article
on the page at this link).
If and when you seek to hire staff, a video is located
on their
Web site that explains the organization, and
introduces those who are actively looking for
positions.
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Housing News |
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FAHSA Questions Why Florida's 2010 OCAF
Lowest in Nation -- Last week, the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development issued
the Notice of Certain Operating Cost Adjustment
Factors (OCAF) for 2010. Florida's rate for 2010 is
1.8 percent, while the national average is 4.7
percent. FAHSA is requesting additional information
on why Florida's rate is so low and how it was
calculated.
Other Housing News:
- Please Comment on HUD's new Strategic Plan - And
See Other Comments Too
- Resident Rights Brochure Updated
- HUD's Internal Audit of PBCA's
- Member Asks Question --"How to Establish Bank
Account for Resident Councils?"
FAHSA Housing Alert Page |
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Legislative News |
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Senate Budget Office Created --
Last week, Senate President Jeff Atwater (R-Palm
Beach), announced the creation of a Senate Budget
Office (SBO). This is a new Senate office and will
be reporting directly to the Senate Ways and Means
Policy Steering Committee Chair.
The SBO will be responsible for providing
independent analyses of state government agency
operations, including: overlapping agency
jurisdictions and functions, the financial structure
of agencies, sources and uses of revenues,
expenditure patterns, and whether programmatic
performance measures exist and are being met.
Initially the Senate Budget Office will be staffed
with two nonpartisan, impartial professionals,
dedicated to timely analyses that will aid in
economic and budgetary decisions associated with the
development of Florida's budget.
Florida Gets Unfavorable Rating on Yet
Another List - This Time It's Unfair Taxing
- The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, a
Washington-based group with ties to labor unions,
released a report stating that Florida is one of the
ten worst states in terms of unfair taxation.
According to the study, the bottom fifth of
Floridians, who earn an average $10,500 a year, pay
13.5 percent of their earnings in local and state
taxes - including property taxes and sales taxes -
when compared with the wealthiest 1 percent of
Floridians, who earn an average of $2.44 million and
pay 2.1 percent of their income in local and state
taxes.
Most of the lower-rated states, like Florida, do not
have a personal income tax, which the policy group
says is a fairer tax. "Virtually every state has a
regressive tax system," said Matthew Gardner, the
lead author of the study. "But these 10 states
(including Florida) stand out for the extraordinary
degree to which they have shifted the cost of
funding public investments to their very poorest
residents."
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Nursing Home News |
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FDA Alerts
Health Care Providers About Negative Pressure Wound
Therapy -- The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) has issued an alert about deaths and serious
complications associated with the use of Negative
Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT).
The FDA said that it has received reports of six
deaths and 77 injuries associated with NPWT systems
over the past two years. Most of the deaths occurred
at home or in a long-term care facility, the FDA
said. Bleeding was the most serious complication
and was reported in six death and 17 injury reports.
The agency recommends selecting patients for NPWT
carefully. Also, a trained practitioner should
monitor the patient frequently in an appropriate
care setting. Health Care practitioners should be
vigilant for potentially life-threatening
complications, such as bleeding, and should be
prepared to take prompt action if they occur. NPWT
systems apply negative pressure to wounds to remove
fluids. The two biggest players in the NPWT market
are Kinetic Concepts Inc., and Smith & Nephew.
Source: McKnight's LTC Daily News, November 17,
2009
Other Nursing Home Alert Issues:
- CMS Offers QIS Status
Report
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Preferred Business Associates News |
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 FAHSA's
Preferred Business Associates Program (PBAs)
-- A list of PBAs can be found by on the
FAHSA Web site
www.fahsa.org and
selecting Preferred Business Associates from the
left side menu bar or clicking on the FAHSA
Preferred Business Associates Page hyperlink. FAHSA
members can also use the on-line directory to search
for PBAs by specialty.
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Career Center |
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Welcome to the Florida Association of Homes
and Services for the Aging Career Center!
Your destination for exciting Aging Services job
opportunities and the best resource for qualified
candidates in the Florida Aging Services Industry.
Searching for a job in Aging Services?
Looking to fill a position? This job board is custom
tailored for the Aging Services industry, which
means we attract the most qualified professionals in
Florida.
Create an Employer Account,
search resumes and post your Aging Services job now!
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Copyright 2009 -- Publication of the Florida
Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
(FAHSA).
- FAHSA Chair: Terri Cunliffe
- FAHSA President/CEO: Janegale Boyd
- Managing Editor: Gail Matillo, MPA
Copyright Information: Copies of the articles and
other information in this publication may be
noncommercially reproduced for the purpose of
educational or scientific advancement. Otherwise, no
part of this publication may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, mechanical or
electronic, including photocopying, microfilm and
recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without the written permission of
the editor.
Correspondence: Should be addressed to: Editor, 1812
Riggins Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. For telephone
inquiries, call (850) 671-3700. Or E-mail FAHSA at
info@fahsa.org. © 2009 FAHSA. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this
correspondence is not intended as a substitute for
legal advice. Please discuss any information
gathered from this or any other FAHSA publications
with your legal counsel in the context of your
particular situation before implementing any new
policies or procedures.
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