The Latest From DOH - July 2025
The Situation Report | July 21, 2025
On July 10, 2025, HCANYS and other associations representing the long-term care continuum met with the state Department of Health (DOH) Office of Aging and Long Term Care (OALTC). The DOH holds meetings with the associations to provide updates and give the participants the opportunity to ask questions and raise any issues.
Some of the items discussed at this meeting included:
Emergency Preparedness
Valerie Deetz, deputy director of OALTC, reminded providers to be mindful of the impact of extreme hot weather on elderly patients.
With regards to the heat, Heidi Hayes, director of the Center for Residential Surveillance, reaffirmed the importance of having current information in the Health Commerce System.
OALTC expects one member from each provider to log into the Health Commerce System daily. Providers are strongly urged to ensure complete profiles on the Health Commerce System, particularly up-to-date names of staff, cell phone numbers, and email addresses. DOH indicates that it is imperative to be able to reach a provider at any given time.
HCANYS likewise asks every HCANYS organizational member that enrolls in the HCS to please verify and, as necessary, update the information on your organization and your key contacts on the HCS site, especially the person or persons mandated for 24x7 contact availability. As HCANYS serves as a collaborative and contracted partner to the state and to NYC for health emergency preparedness, it is essential to the role of the home and community-based services sector to maintain updated and fully functional HCS participation information.
If you are experiencing any issues with your HCS account or have been closed out, please contact
For further information on DOH’s most recent HCS changes, please email the HCS Account Management Unit (CAMU) at
DOH Lunch & Learn Education Series
Millie Ferriter, director of the Division of Home & Community Based Services, announced that topics have been determined for the rest of the year for its Lunch and Learn Series.
July 31: The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. Registration is available here.
August: Nursing Home Transition and Diversion / Traumatic Brain Injury (NHTD/TBI)
September: Alzheimer's Disease Program
October: Money Follows the Person Program
November: TBD: A comparison of Home Health Aide and Personal Care Aide Duties, or a guest speaker on Criminal History Records Checks
December: No webinar - break for the holidays
DOH continues to seek ideas for webinar topics, especially from CHHAs and hospices. Send your suggestions for DOH Lunch and Learn webinars to
Archived webinars are now available here. HCANYS encourages you to take advantage of this complimentary webinars.
Hospice
Kara Travis, director of the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, said the Center has met with nearly all of the hospice providers in New York since she began the position in August 2024.
The Center is planning a big launch in November to commemorate National Home Care and Hospice Month.
Master Plan on Aging
Andrew Lebwohl, director of the Center for the Master Plan for Aging, said the Master Plan was officially released on June 30. HCANYS continues to review the report and will offer suggestions on the proposals.
Advocacy
HCANYS staff asked about providers experiencing a delay in criminal history background checks. DOH is aware of the issue and asked for more information to further investigate.
HCANYS also asked about if there is a change coming to the certificate of need methodologies and DOH confirmed they are looking at need, particularly as Certified Home Health Agencies have closed and in light of workforce issues. Deetz added that this is why they have changed the LHCSA survey to see how and where services are being delivered throughout New York.