The North Carolina Assisted Living Association (NCALA) recently hosted its 30th Annual Fall Conference in Winston-Salem. As part of the event, NCALA presented this year's winners of the Community Leadership Award and Hero Awards for individuals who represent the highest levels of excellence, caring, and dedication in senior living.

The award nominees are submitted by regional/company executives and executive directors of senior living communities from NCALA's more than 350 member communities, which collectively serve more than 15,000 seniors. The Community Leadership award is given to one executive director/administrator of a member assisted living community who is an ideal representative and role model for the thousands of executives leading senior living communities; they are responsible for providing overall leadership in the day-to-day operation of a senior living community.

Argentum and our State Partner, the Florida Senior Living Association (FSLA), are closely monitoring the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Milton, which struck near the Tampa Bay area late last night and tracked across the Florida Peninsula today. As of this afternoon, more than 550 health care facilities in the state remain without power. There have been no reported deaths of assisted living residents.

More than 400 health care facilities evacuated due to the storm, including 222 assisted living communities, making this the largest evacuation of these facilities in Florida’s history. Many communities went above and beyond to help their residents, families, and caregivers through a smooth evacuation process, such as Barrington Terrace in Fort Myers. At least one community in Tampa—not located in an evacuation zone—was forced to evacuate early this morning due to rising flood waters. For any community that had to evacuate, it is the state’s first priority to relocate residents back to their communities.

Argentum and FSLA are monitoring community needs regarding power outages, phone/internet access, water/sewage, or accessibility due to flooding that may prevent safe passage of residents, caregivers, and supplies. To ensure that these needs are communicated to emergency management officials, we ask that operators fill out our brief survey; we will relay these responses to authorities to provide assistance. Communities may also report to Paul Williams with Argentum (pwilliams@argentum.org, 410-900-5100) or Gail Matillo, President & CEO of FSLA, at info@floridaseniorliving.org or 850-496-2562.

Workforce Support
To help with immediate workforce needs due to the storm, now through October 14, Argentum member KARE will waive all fees associated with bringing in Heroes for communities that request help from KARE; the communities will pay only for the cost of labor. For affected Florida communities, KARE will have an operations team standing by to help post shifts and reach out to Heroes to fill open shifts. KARE has around 4,000 Heroes (CNAs, CMAs, LPNs and RNs) in the general area of the storm track. To get started:

Preparations are underway for the expected landfall later today of Hurricane Milton in Florida. The storm is a category 4 hurricane and expected to remain at hurricane strength as it moves across the Florida peninsula, bringing rainfall of 6-12 inches with localized rainfall of 18 inches, and risk of catastrophic and life-threatening flash and urban flooding. During an emergency preparedness briefing held today in Tallahassee, emergency authorities advised:

• Over 300 health care facilities have been evacuated making this the largest evacuation of these facilities in Florida’s history.
• Approximately 217 assisted living communities have evacuated as of this afternoon, with the window for evacuations rapidly closing.
• Assisted living and other health care operators have the authority to exceed resident capacity without approval from the Agency for Health Care Administration for the next two weeks.
• Assisted living communities are advised to update their status in the Health Facility Reporting System daily by 10:00 a.m. or in the event of any change in status.
• Due to the anticipated severity of the storm, authorities are projecting potential long-term utility outages and ask for that everyone prepare for that possibility.
• Power companies throughout the anticipated affected areas are already staging repair and restoration crews.

Argentum’s State Partner, the Florida Senior Living Association (FSLA), is leading efforts to prepare senior living providers for the storm while also helping those recovering from Hurricane Helene. Part of storm preparation includes communicating directly with Florida emergency management operations and regulatory personnel as well as exploring contingencies for providers in meeting resident needs.

Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia have been severely impacted by Hurricane Helene, which has caused over 100 deaths along with damage and economic losses that may exceed $100 billion. No senior living resident deaths or significant injuries have occurred as a result of Hurricane Helene.

Reports from Argentum State Partners in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia:

Argentum has been closely monitoring Hurricane Helene, as it makes landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida, tracks across Georgia, and remnants of the storm hit inland areas.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm, including senior living residents and staff. We have been in contact with our State Partners who will be available to help navigate any issues or relay information to the respective state emergency departments.
 
We also ask that anyone impacted by the storm to provide Paul Williams (pwilliams@argentum.org) with a general update on how your residents and communities are doing relative to Hurricane Helene as well as any assistance that you need.

On August 28, the California Assisted Living Association (CALA) hosted its first ever "Federal Day in Your District" where CALA members met with Congressional Representatives in their district offices to cultivate relationships, help shape discussions at the federal level, and share the voice of Assisted Living. Notably, Rep. Julia Brownley joined the 21st Century Long Term Care Caucus just a few hours after her teams’ Federal Day in Your District meeting.

PICTURED: Dana Stansel, Atria Rocklin; U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley; Cheryl Martin, Prairie City Landing in Folsom; Cynthia Bazin, Prairie City Landing in Folsom; James Dial, Oakmont of Roseville.

PICTURED: CALA members with U.S. Representative Mike Thompson.

30 CALA members met with the following Representatives and their staff:

Laura Landwirth, President & CEO of LeadingAge Colorado has retired after serving Colorado senior living and long term care providers for over 24 years. She will be succeeded by a familiar and accomplished leader in Deborah Lively who has served most recently as LeadingAge Colorado’s Director of Public Policy & Public Affairs. Argentum's Board of Directors, members and staff wish Laura all the best in retirement and congratulate Deborah in her new role as President & CEO of LeadingAge Colorado.

To learn more about some Laura’s fascinating career with LeadingAge Colorado and senior living please read below:

Argentum has been closely monitoring Hurricane Debby, after it made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida and as it tracks across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and potentially other areas along the Atlantic coast.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm, including senior living residents and staff. We have been in contact with our State Partners who will be available to help navigate any issues or relay information to the respective state emergency departments.
 
We also ask that anyone impacted by the storm to provide Paul Williams (pwilliams@argentum.org) with a general update on how your residents and communities are doing relative to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby as well as any assistance that you need.

In an example of the activity at the state-level on the workforce crisis in assisted living, we highlight the achievements of the Virginia Assisted Living Association (VALA), which is focused on turning the tide on workforce challenges and creating more opportunities for career pathways to blossom within the senior living industry in Virginia.

The group, which is an affiliate of Argentum, successfully drew attention to its cause in May, when Virginia’s Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources and the Special Advisor to the Governor for Healthcare Workforce joined the VALA Workforce Development Committee meeting. In the meeting, assisted living providers were able to share their concerns and describe the barriers they face relative to workforce directly with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) administration. VALA is working to keep lines of communication open to ensure that assisted living providers get the support they need, they said.

The workforce shortage in the commonwealth has forced the 560 assisted living communities (ALFs) to operate below full capacity. “In the last 10 years, the capacity of Virginia’s ALFs was nearly 32,500, but the demand for senior living has significantly grown resulting to the capacity being increased to nearly 39,000 at the end of 2022,” reports Judy Hackler, executive director of VALA.

In other news from VALA, several recent advocacy wins have a positive impact on industry workforce issues.

Argentum and its state partner, the Florida Senior Living Association (FSLA), have requested Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to provide assistance to senior living providers who have experienced losses as a result of Hurricane Ian.