New Mexico Register / Volume XXXII,
Issue 21 / November 9, 2021
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The New Mexico Department of Health (“DOH”)
will hold a public hearing on the proposed adoption of rule,
7.1.32 NMAC, “Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training.” The public hearing will be held on December
10, 2021 at 9:30 am via Cisco Webex online, via telephone, and comments will be
received via email through the day of the hearing until 5:00 pm. The hearing is
being held via internet, email and telephonic means due to the concerns
surrounding Coronavirus and consideration of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s
Executive Order 2020-004, Declaration of a Public Health Emergency, and any
subsequent executive orders. This hearing will be conducted to receive public comment regarding
the adoption of the proposed rule, 7.1.32 NMAC, concerning the creation of a regulation
to provide training requirements, continuing education requirements, and
certification for all direct care service staff members providing direct care
services to long-term care facility residents by in-person, video, audio or
telephonic means.
The purpose of the adoption
of the proposed rule will be to provide training, education and certification
to New Mexico direct care service staff members who are (1) employed by or contracted with
a long-term care facility, either directly or through a third-party agreement,
to provide in-person direct care services to long-term care facility residents;
or (2) contracted with a long-term care facility, either directly or through a
third-party agreement, to provide at least ten hours per week in direct care
services by video, audio or telephonic means; fulfilling the DOH’s
legislative obligations in 24-17B-1 NMSA 1978.
By adopting this rule, DOH proposes
to establish a statewide department-approved training and certification program
which will provide standardized knowledge to all direct care service staff
members who provide direct care services to long-term
care facility residents by in-person, video, audio or telephonic means. The
training may be provided online or in person. By adopting this rule, all direct
care staff service members in New Mexico will be required to take a minimum
four hours of training initially, followed by a division-approved written
examination, before receiving a training certificate; and then four hours of
training every year thereafter as a continuing education requirement on
specific topics set forth in the regulation covering the care of long-term care
facility residents with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Long-term care
facilities or long-term care contractors will be responsible for maintaining
documentation regarding completed long-term care facility dementia training,
evaluation and continuing education for each direct care service staff member.
The purpose of the regulation will also be
to provide an exemption of the training requirement under this rule for those
direct care staff service members who are hired prior to January 1, 2022, and
who received training within the past 24 months equivalent to the requirements
sent forth in the regulation. The
facilities will be required by the regulation to attest to the equivalent
training of the direct care staff service members hired prior to January 1,
2022, and, upon receipt of the attestation, the department will issue such an
employee the required certificate.
The purpose of the regulation will be to
provide a timeline for a DOH review and evaluation of the topic training areas
set out in the proposed regulation for every two years or as determined
necessary by the department based upon current research and best practices.
The legal authority authorizing the
proposed amendment of the rule by the Department is at Subsection E of Section
9-7-6, and the Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training Act, 24-17B-1 et seq.
NMSA 1978. A free copy of the full text
of the proposed rule can be obtained from the Department’s website at https://nmhealth.org/publication/regulation/.
Any interested member of the public may
attend the hearing and offer public comments on the proposed rule during the
hearing. To access the hearing by
telephone: please call 1-408-418-9388.
Your telephone comments will be recorded. To access the hearing via internet: please go
to Webex.com; click the “Join” button; click the “Join a meeting” button; enter
the following meeting number and password where indicated on screen—Meeting number
(access code): 24888018510#, Meeting
password: mFpTkCge958; click the “OK” button.
You may also provide comment via Chat during the live streaming.
Written public comments may also be
submitted to the mailing address shown below.
Please submit any written comments regarding the proposed rule to the
attention of:
Christopher Burmeister
Division Director, Health Improvement
New Mexico Department of Health
2040 S. Pacheco
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Christopher.Burmeis@state.nm.us
505-476-9074
Or preferably by e-mailing
the comment to the e-mail address: Christopher.Burmeis@state.nm.us
Written comments must be
received by the close of the public rule hearing on December 10, 2021. All written comments will be published on the
agency website at http://nmhealth.org/about/asd/cmo/rules/ within three (3)
days of receipt and will be available at the New Mexico Department of Health Division
of Health Improvement for public inspection.
If you are an individual with a disability
who is in need of special assistance or accommodations to attend or participate
in the hearing, please contact Sheila Apodaca by telephone at (505)
827-2997. The Department requests at
least ten (10) days advance notice to provide requested special accommodations.
The foregoing are summaries
of the proposed rule. The proposed rule
includes various additional substantive revisions not identified here. Free copies of the full text of the proposed
rule may be obtained online from the
Department’s website at https://nmhealth.org/publication/regulation/