Minnesota Hospital Association

Newsroom

December 07, 2015

MHA Newsline: Dec. 7, 2015

In this issue 

Encourage the flu vaccine during National Influenza Vaccination Week

Influenza activity in Minnesota has been low so far, but there is a lot of time left in the flu season. Health officials want Minnesotans to get their flu vaccine now so they are protected when flu activity increases.   

Dec. 6-12 is National Influenza Vaccination Week – the perfect time to encourage staff and your community to get their flu vaccine. People 65 and older, young children and those with chronic conditions such as asthma or heart disease are especially susceptible to the flu, making it all the more important that health care workers who care for these populations get vaccinated.   

Minnesota’s hospitals are wrapping up a campaign to set the record straight about common misconceptions about the flu and the vaccine. Visit the Minnesota's Hospitals: Strengthening Healthy Communities website to find #FluTruths you can share in your community. return to top   

NAMI-Minnesota collects gifts for the holidays

The St. Paul office of NAMI-Minnesota is collecting gifts for children and adults who will be hospitalized in metro psychiatric inpatient units and adults living in residential facilities over the holidays. Unwrapped gifts may be dropped off at NAMI’s office, located at 800 Transfer Road, Ste. 31, in St. Paul, through Dec. 18.   

Particular types of gifts are sought – nothing sharp or breakable, no ribbons or strings. For more information, including gift suggestions, visit the NAMI websitereturn to top   

MDH requires retesting for some nursing assistants

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is requiring retesting for 569 people who took the test to become federally qualified nursing assistants at Inver Hills Community College and its satellite location at Blue Sky Online in West St. Paul between May 1, 2014, and Oct. 16, 2015, due to anomalies found in the test results.    

Because it is not clear which individuals who took the tests may be impacted by potential improprieties, MDH is requiring all individuals who took the tests at those locations during that time period to retake the tests. The individuals will not be charged for the retesting.   

Nursing assistants who took the tests during this time period at these locations may continue to work but they must take and pass the tests by no later than March 31, 2016. Any employee who does not pass the tests by this date will be ineligible to work as a nursing assistant at a federally certified nursing home or board and care home. In addition to being ineligible to work in those settings, individuals who do not retake the test within the allotted time and remain employed as nursing assistants may pose increased liability risk to their employers regardless of the setting where they provide or support patient care.   

MDH plans to contact affected individuals and their employers to explain the retesting process.   

Hospitals and health care systems need to determine if their nursing assistants took the test at one of the affected locations between May 1, 2014, and Oct. 16, 2015. If you become aware of someone who should retake the test, you are asked to contact MDH at [email protected] or 651-201-4131.   

More information can be found on the MDH websitereturn to top