WALA News for May 13, 2010

1. Recomendations for the Residential Rate Setting Project

With the increasing concern about the proposed Rate Setting Methodology and other issues with Family Care, a letter signed by seven long term care association was sent on May 7 to Ms. Fredi Bove, the Deputy Administrator of the Division of Long Term Care. Given the importance of these issues, the letter is at this link.

On May 10, Ms. Bove responded and directed her staff to set up a meeting. WALA will be sending two of our most knowledgeable providers to represent you at this meeting.

Ms. Bove said in part;
Thank you for your email and for preparing the clear and comprehensive summary.  .. . To ensure that the size of the meeting does not become so large as to inhibit a productive discussion, I am requesting that each of the seven signatory organizations designate no more than 2 attendees to the meeting.

I recognize and appreciate the strong interest held by all of your organizations in this issue.

Fredi

2. Upcoming WALA events

Clinical Roundtable Discussion: May 19, 2010 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. in Milwaukee

WALA is pleased to host a free Clinical Roundtable discussion exclusively for WALA Members who are in a RN or Clinical Manager role. These sessions are designed to provide an opportunity for clinicians to meet with clinical peers from their community and discuss issues, challenges and solutions unique to the assisted living environment. This is a free WALA event, but please register to plan for accomodations.

Topic: Nurse Delegation : Ever wonder what it takes to accomplish good nurse delegation? What do you as a nurse need to know? What does the person you're delegating to need to know? Join this roundtable discussion to ponder answers to these and other questions related to nursing delegation.

Family Care Session: Series 3

WALA Family Care sessions have been developed to enhance communication and increase partnership between providers and Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) across the state. This is the third and final set of sessions of the Family Care series across the state. This is your last chance to take advantage of this WALA-sponsored opportunity. Listed below are the upcoming scheduled dates:  

Building Blocks of Training

This workshop is designed to provide you with dynamic tools for presenting effective instruction. If you are an experienced instructor, it will provide you with new ideas to expand your repertoire of instructional practices or if you are a new instructor, it will provide you with a road map for how to start thinking about teaching adults. This course meets the six hour teaching/training requirement as defined in the applications for 83.20.

Go to the WALA Store at www.ewala.org for more information on any of the events listed above or to register today!

 

3. BAL Forum news

 

 

 

 

4. New BAL Memos

Elopement Guidelines for Assisted Living Facilities

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/rl_dsl/Publications/10-009.htm

 

Reporting Requirements Under 457.25(1), Stats

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/dsl_info/shared/cy2010/memo201004.htm

 

Carbon Monoxide Alarms - New Requirements*

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/rl_DSL/Publications/10-006.htm

*This memo is revised with update. Please be sure to look for the attachment. It is a helpful chart entitled "What you need to know about Carbon Monoxide Alarms in Health Care".

5. Home Care Workers Unionize

SEIU has been pushing legislation that would allow for home care workers to unionize in order to negotiate higher wages. Last week a union vote passed allowing home care workers to join the union if they choose to do so. This unionization is for home care workers who are in Medicaid programs, like Family Care, and does not affect home care workers employed by agencies. The union would negotiate with DHS to set pay rates for workers, but not until July of 2011.

Check out the full story on http://www.jsonline.com/business/93000694.html

6. Join WALA for upcoming Brewers Game

WALA was able to secure Brewers vs. Cubs tickets for a networking event. Join the WALA board and other WALA supporters at Miller Park on Thursday June 10 at 1:10 pm.  WALA purchased the 36 tickets but there is ONLY SEVEN (7) TICKETS LEFT for the Cubs/Brewers game, and we feel we got a good deal at $60/ticket. We did not think anyone wanted to sit in the upper terrace nose bleeds, or have lousy seats, so we have quite nice seats.  Club Level, section 342, rows 1-4. If it is sunny and the roof is open, we will likely be in the sun. Special thanks to Amy Jo Powers for making this possible when we had been told it could not work. We hope to again coordinate the infamous Quarter Game that we did at a Brewers networking event the year the stadium opened. 

Your tickets are confirmed first come-first served when we have received payment @ $60/ticket via credit card (only). Send your info to jmurphy@ewala.org or call Victoria at 608/288-0246.

 


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