Schedule

8:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks

8:15 Bridging the Gap

Session Description: Lessons learned on connecting partners across all sectors to support healthcare in preparedness, training, response and recovery. We will share several real-world responses, including a Long-Term Care fire that resulted in the evacuation of 77 patients.

Laura Hofmann, MSN, RN – Director of Clinical & Nursing Facility Regulatory Services
Laura brings over 20 years of registered nursing practice in skilled nursing facilities to influence policy on Federal & State clinical activities including assessment, care planning, measuring outcomes and regulatory compliance. She supports both skilled nursing facility and assisted living members. Laura has expertise in both federal 5 Star and state quality measures and assists members in understanding areas of clinical focus for improved outcomes and reduced hospitalizations. She also monitors and reports survey trends for members and acts as an intermediary between members and the state quality oversight agency to understand and clarify changes in regulatory expectations, including the federal Requirements of Participation, Life Safety Code, Emergency Preparedness regulation. Laura communicates the latest changes in the acute, post-acute and chronic long stay healthcare environments to members and promotes partnerships with health plans and hospital systems.

Elya Baltazar, District Manager for the Northwest Healthcare Response Network
Elya works with the team to help ensure district specific planning, training and exercises are implemented in support of coalition partners. She is responsible for the implementation of the Network’s programs and activities throughout our service area and works in collaboration with the local community on initiatives. She has also helped support numerous emergency responses when the Network was activated, including the recent long term care evacuation. Her previous experience also includes many years as an Emergency Medical Technician and holds a BA in Disaster and Emergency Management.

Mariah Pede, West District Coordinator with the Northwest Healthcare Response Network
In her role as district coordinator, Mariah works to incorporate the Network’s programs and activities throughout Western WA, specifically in Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston Counties, by working in collaboration with the local community partners and building relationships. She also held an integral role as Duty Officer throughout the several years long response to COVID and was also the duty officer on call during the recent LTC evacuation. Mariah joined the Network in October 2018, and brings many years of experience in Fire and EMS. Prior to joining the Network, Mariah worked in the Emergency Room at Mason General Hospital for 13 years while aiding in the development of their Emergency Preparedness Program. She holds many certificates in specialized disciplines including Infrastructure Disaster Management through Texas A&M.

9:15 Surviving a Survey
Session Description: Learn about citation trends in CMS Appendix Z.

Kari Everson, DNP, MHA, RN, LNHA, LALD, PHN, DNS-CT, QCP, Vice President of Clinical Services, Leading Age Minnesota

10:00 Break

10:15 Workshop Breakout Sessions (3 options)

Workshop 1:
The World of Exercise: Building a community of commitment
Workshop description: We will build a foundational understanding of the role of exercise in long-term care facilities. Our session will demystify exercise design and implementation. We will give specifics on designing tabletop exercises and functional training, as well as a glance at the concept of exercise progression, critical concepts, and terminology.

Jonathan Bundt is the founder and CEO of Masa Consulting Inc. and has worked in behavioral science, healthcare, security, emergency management, and public safety for over 30 years, specializing in disaster behavioral health, workplace violence prevention, crisis mitigation, incident response, and recovery.   His work in the United States began in 1995.  He regularly provides consultation and training services to the private sector, hospitals, long-term care, EMS, police and fire departments, state corrections departments, public health, human services, and public safety. Jonathan has provided incident and post-incident consultations for more than 3,000 local, regional, and national crisis, disaster, and violence events. In addition, he has developed numerous programs of prevention and response to active threats to private industry and public safety.  Jonathan is a certified emergency manager in MN and a licensed mental health professional, balancing security and human factors in his work. He is a member of MN-1 DMAT (federal response team), a disaster medical response team. His areas of interest are healthcare and public safety wellness, exercise and training design, workplace violence prevention and response, and developing incident response teams.

Workshop 2:
Evacuation Triage and Transportation
Workshop description: Participants will learn best practices on how to triage residents during an evacuation and identify transportation resources.

Jeffrey Lanenberg, BA, CEM, NRP. Jeff has spent over 35 years in public safety between the fire service, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and Emergency Management fields. His command, operations and planning experience include several large-scale MCI incidents, Type I disaster deployments, and heavily attended planned community events. He continues to serve on the Minnesota All Hazards Incident Management Team and was key in the development of the Minnesota Ambulance Strike Team and Task Force program. Currently, Jeff is the Deputy Director of Emergency Management for Anoka County. He oversees operations, planning, and training. He has a passion to develop planning and response processes to strengthen the bench for future public safety leaders and private partners.

Workshop 3:
Command Center Activation- The First 90 Minutes of an Incident Response

Workshop Description: We will explore the fundamentals of an effective command center start up from the point our teams are notified of an event to preparing for the first operational briefing.  We will also introduce two tools that can greatly assist with managing an incident response at your facility.

Ken Combs is a Regional Healthcare Preparedness Coordinator (RHPC) with the Metro Health & Medical Coalition, specializing as their Regional Training and Exercise Coordinator.  Ken has over 20 years of experience in Healthcare in the fields of Emergency Management, Security, and Safety.  He most recently worked at Children’s Minnesota as their Emergency Preparedness Program Manager.  Prior to contributing at Children’s Minnesota Ken was with Mayo Clinic Health System as their Regional Emergency Preparedness Manager in Southwest Minnesota.  He was also closely connected with the Emergency Management community as a Senior Advisory Committee Member of the South Central Healthcare Coalition.  Ken is a certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) with the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), has earned his Basic Emergency Management Certification through Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM), and is trained in FEMA’s Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Program.

11:30 Lunch

12:15 Workshop Breakout Sessions (3 options)*
*The same workshops will run again. See descriptions above.

1:30 Break

1:45 Not Just an IT Issue: Implications of New York City Long-Term Care Sector Cybersecurity Preparedness

Session Description: Participants will learn why strengthening nursing facilities’ cyber capabilities goes beyond the IT department. Additionally, this session will address the abilities, as identified in a recent tabletop exercise, of nursing homes to identify and mitigate cyberattacks, the challenges and barriers faced by this sector in improving their cybersecurity posture, and provide insights on steps that nursing facilities can take to mitigate potential attacks.

Lisa Fenger is the Assistant Director, Emergency Preparedness & Response, overseeing emergency preparedness education and training for Greater New York Hospital Association continuing care members and the long-term care sector across New York City. In this role, she coordinates and develops emergency preparedness programming, develops, and conducts exercises, and manages the online situational awareness platform for nursing facilities, and serves as the long-term care representative to the New York City Healthcare Coalition’s Governance Board. She has been active in emergency and disaster response for over 20 years in volunteer and paid positions including Hurricanes Isabel, Katrina, Gustav, and Sandy, Tropical Storm Irene, as well as the New York City COVID-19 response. Lisa holds a Master of Public Administration focused on Emergency and Disaster Management from Metropolitan College of New York as well as a Master’s Degree in Library Science and a Bachelor of Science in Biology, both from the University of Michigan.

2:45 De-escalating Emotionally Charged People and Situations
Session Description: Learn the art of defusing a tense situation. This training explores a variety of useful tips and insights to reduce interpersonal conflict using key concepts of verbal de-escalation.  Participants will learn useful strategies to remain calm in the moment, effectively respond to aggressive statements and behaviors, and ultimately preserve their physical and emotional safety.

Luke Campbell is the Northeast/Northwest Regional Behavioral Health Coordinator in Emergency Preparedness and Response with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).  Luke is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and holds a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and specializes in stress, trauma, and emotional awareness and development. Outside of his duties with MDH he also works with individuals, couples, and families as a psychotherapist in his private mental health practice.  Prior to working in the mental health field, Luke served 10 years in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa.  Luke currently lives in Saint Paul with his wife and two young boys, enjoys being active, and spending time outdoors.

3:45 Closing Remarks

4:00 Adjourn