Pennsylvania Revises Nursing Facility Licensure Regulations
On October 28, 2022, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted to approve all four final form regulatory packages that had previously been submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to overhaul the Commonwealth’s nursing facility licensure regulations. The new regulations will go into effect on July 1, 2023. You can view the approved regulatory packages here 3343FF.pdf (state.pa.us); 3335FF.pdf (state.pa.us); 3316FF.pdf (state.pa.us); 3312FF.pdf (state.pa.us), while we await publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. We encourage all providers to carefully review the new regulations, as we await additional interpretive guidance from the Department, and are available to assist clients with preparation of the implementation of the new regulations next year.
Temporary Nurse Aide (TNA) Program Update
Additionally, on November 3, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued updates to its TNA program. These updates include important dates and deadlines that all facilities and TNAs should be mindful of if they are interested in taking advantage of the program prior to its expiration. Important dates and deadlines for the program are as follows:
- November 10, 2022
- Deadline to submit completed Attestation forms to the Department of Education
- December 31, 2022
- Deadline for TNAs to pass the online written examination
- End of the Public Health Emergency (PHE, currently January 11, 2023) or April 5, 2023
- Deadline for TNAs to pass the skills examination and to become enrolled in the state nurse aide registry is the end of the PHE which is currently set to expire on January 11, 2023 in the event that that the PHE is extended, the deadline would be the end of the PHE or April 5, 2023 which ever date is the earliest.
Please let us know if you have any question regarding the latest Departmental announcements.