Situation Report | July 27, 2020
In a July 15 letter, HCA requests the state Department of Health (DOH) to streamline current requirements for a certified nurse aide (CNA) to become a home health aide (HHA).
DOH currently requires CNAs to undergo a competency evaluation program by an approved home health aide training program. But the federal regulations have not required this since 2018, and we suggest that home health agencies can provide any such necessary training/orientation as part of their current state regulatory requirements.
Such flexibility, we point out, will help attract additional trained individuals to the workforce and lessen the current demands on existing training programs whose operations have been drastically curtailed by the COVID-19 health emergency, reducing the number of aides to provide home care.
We will keep members informed of DOH’s response.