Greetings on this snowy March day!

ADVOCACY

DC Advocacy Update: For those who volunteers to attend virtual meetings with our congressional delegation, your March 28^th is now freed up! NAHC had an internal snafu. Virtual visits are not an option, however, Darla is going IN-PERSON to represent us all!! I will try to schedule virtual visits for the ones that aren’t scheduled for her – so Darla, please keep me posted.

As for our local advocacy, Brianna has worked very hard to increase our grassroots advocacy and it’s paying off! Below is a comparison in the number of authors our bills had from last year to this year. The bills were the same in this case, so it’s a true comparison. We’ve added some authors as a direct outcome of the Day at the Capitol meetings! Kudos to Brianna and our grassroots champions!!

Underfunded Services Bill:

House- 4 authors, 2022

House- 9 authors, 2023

Senate- 2 authors, 2022

Senate- 5 authors, 2023

Base Rate Bill:

House- 3 authors, 2022

House- 11 authors, 2023

Senate- 2 authors, 2022

Senate- 5 authors, 2023

ORGANIZATIONAL

The following announcement just came out from NAHC so I wanted to share it right away. There has been talk of this but it’s now public/official. This could lead to interesting discussions with MNHPC. I did add having 2 meetings with MNHPC to our strategic plan, to keep communications open. We look forward to sharing our proposed plan with you at the April meeting.

NAHC and NHPCO Exploring Collaboration Opportunities

For many years, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) have often worked together to advance projects and initiatives in our common interest. The Boards of Directors of both NAHC and NHPCO believe the time is right to explore how a stronger, unified, and more intentional approach to collaboration could accelerate the impact of work around our respective missions and on behalf of our members. To that end, the organizations have formed a joint exploratory committee to assess how to best enhance collaboration, partnership, efficiency, and effectiveness between our two organizations.

These discussions follow naturally from our history of collaboration and are rooted in our shared belief that the more united our voices and actions are, the more we will serve and benefit our respective members and the patients and families they serve. Leadership of both NAHC and NHPCO are enthusiastic about the possibilities afforded by these conversations and are fully supportive of exploring options that strengthen impact and alignment across the sector.

While these discussions are taking place, both organizations are evaluating key positions and the timing for hiring and/or replacement. Both organizations have agreed to suspend their executive recruitment and succession planning for the duration of these discussions.

The NAHC and NHPCO boards have great confidence in their respective leadership teams and their ability to meet the needs of members as we explore this unique and exciting opportunity.

NAHC and NHPCO have jointly retained the association consulting firm McKinley Advisors to help support the process and provide an objective analysis of potential opportunities to strengthen the ties between the two organizations. As part of this evaluation, McKinley will be conducting in-depth interviews with industry stakeholders over the next several weeks and will report findings and recommendations to the Boards of both organizations. The exploratory committee expects to issue additional communications about these findings and our collective next steps regarding the collaboration opportunities in May.

Kind Regards,

Kathy Messerli

Executive Director

Minnesota Home Care Association

1265 Grey Fox Road, Suite 2 | Arden Hills, MN 55112-6929

Direct: 651.635.0038 | Main: 651.635.0607