Madonna Towers and St. Gertrude’s Receive Excellence Award
Madonna Living Community of Rochester and St. Gertrude’s Health and Rehabilitation Center, Shakopee have been awarded My InnerView’s Excellence in Action award, a national honor recognizing exemplary nursing home quality care and service. The award, which is presented annually, recognizes long-term care providers that performed in the top 10 percent of nursing homes. Nearly 5,500 nursing homes in the country participated in the 2010 satisfaction survey.
September 30 Deadline to Submit Comments on the Religious Employer Exceptions to Preventative Service Coverage
As you know, on Aug. 1, 2011, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued health plan coverage guidelines developed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to require additional preventive services coverage for women. The new guidelines expand the list of required preventive services for women to include all FDA approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures and counseling. These preventive services are required to be offered by all individual and group health plans, including self-insured plans and “church plans,” without patient cost sharing, beginning in the first plan year after Aug. 1, 2012.
Senior care facility breaks ground on Brooklyn Park expansion
Senior care facility Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake broke ground Sept. 12 for an expansion of its Brooklyn Park campus. The 64-bed addition will include both transitional and long-term care suites. Other features will include a fitness center with a therapy pool, therapy services and family-style dining. Saint Therese is a nonprofit faith-based organization that provides assisted living, rehabilitation and fitness, memory care, transitional care, senior housing and palliative care. Other campuses are located in New Hope and Shoreview. For information, visit http://www.sttheresemn.org.
Cardinal Reaffirms Support for Respect for Rights of Conscience Act
Congress should support a bill (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) that will close gaps in protection of conscience rights in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), especially in light of the threat to conscience rights posed by a new mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston in a September 7 letter to Congress. Read more.
Ethical Issues in Catholic Healthcare Conference
The La Crosse Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and the Diocese of La Cross will be hosting an upcoming Catholic Medical Conference on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. The Conference will address Ethical Issues in Catholic Healthcare and will feature presenters, Fr. Tad Pacholczyk and Dr. John Haas. Contact Eugene J. Diamond at ediamond@shrineofourlady.com or 877-799-4059 for more information.
Birth-control mandate puts religion in a bind
Archdiocesan Vicar General Rev. Peter Laird expresses serious moral concerns about recommendations adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Read more.