Operational

§  I’m pleased to announce that MHCA has hired Tou (pronounced too/two) Xiong as the Membership and Regulatory Affairs Manager. Although Tou’s strength is in the policy area, he also brings experience in building relationships so he will help us grow the membership, while I continue to seek a strong membership candidate. The communication tasks are built into his job description. Tou received his law degree from William Mitchell and has been engaged in community outreach, most recently serving as the Executive Director of Harrison Neighborhood Association. He previously worked for Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and MN Housing Finance Agency and although home care will be new to him, he has enough knowledge to raise the issue of spend-downs in his interview! Tou will be staffing the Medicare, Survey/Regulatory and Membership Teams – as he is oriented.

 

Tou will begin a few days of orientation September 21 and will be here full-time October 3^rd.  Yes, he shares the same last name as Annie – no relationship, but we’ve teased her about members thinking we’ve hired her husband! What are the chances with a staff of 4?!?

 

§  The MHCA teams are kicking off for the year.  Six of them have met already. One highlight is that the Clinical Quality and Rehab Teams held a joint meeting to discuss potential collaboration opportunities in the year ahead, specifically addressing training opportunities related to increasing MN home care agency Star Ratings.

 

Advocacy

§  Some of the state associations are rolling out “Bring the Vote Home,” a national initiative to get seniors out to vote. Home care staff are providing information to their clients. Do you think MHCA members would want to get involved with this? I didn’t hear back from anyone following my last update. We will need to move quickly if we want to participate – or should we reconsider in the future?

 

§  The congressional staff person from Walz’s office continues to help us navigate the VA Choice reimbursement issue. I will be providing him with add’l updates from members so he can pass that along to a newly appointed VA team.

 

§  Jay, Bill Amberg from PHS and I will be attending the VNAA Policy Conference next week and have four congressional visits scheduled.

 

I will be out of the office with limited email Friday – Tuesday and at the VNAA conference Weds – Thurs.

 

Kathy Messerli

Executive Director | Minnesota HomeCare Association

 

2550 University Ave. W.,  Ste. 350 S | St. Paul, MN 55114-1900

Direct: 651.635.0038 | Main: 651.635.0607

Toll-free: 866.607.0607 | Fax: 651.635.0043

www.mnhomecare.org | kmesserli@mnhomecare.org

 

Mission: MHCA represents and supports Minnesota home care providers committed to high quality home care services.

Vision: MHCA will shape the home care landscape to improve and sustain quality home care services.

 

MHCA supports the Best Life Alliance.