The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) recently awarded Riverland Community College a $100,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for a Post-acute Care Nursing Competency Training project. MJSP works strategically with businesses and educational institutions to train or retrain workers, expand work opportunities, and keep high-quality jobs in Minnesota.

The funded project partners Riverland, the Benedictine Health System (BHS) and Koda Living Community (Koda), with a significant link to Owatonna Hospital/Allina Hospitals and Clinics, to develop and deliver evidence-based skilled nursing, post-acute care competency training for RNs working in long-term care environments. Outcomes will support patient safety/recovery, increase opportunities for career advancement, reduce hospital readmissions, and expand long-term care training capacity in rural Minnesota.

The training, developed by Riverland, in consultation with Owatonna Hospital/Allina Hospitals and Clinics, will ensure improved and appropriate continuity of care as patients transition from the hospital to post-acute care, to home. The curriculum will be customized to the needs, standards, and procedures of Owatonna Hospital, and will incorporate classroom training, online learning components, simulation, and job shadowing.

BHS provides long-term skilled nursing, post-acute, assisted living, and memory care through its participating organizations in 35 communities across seven states. Koda, an entity of BHS in Owatonna, provides long-term skilled nursing and post-acute care. Concurrently, Koda is transitioning into a post-acute care unit, or "PACU," to address the complicated needs of post-acute patients. PACUs allow hospitals to discharge patients earlier, knowing they are going to a higher level of care versus traditional long-term-care facility.

Koda’s new building adjoining Owatonna Hospital is scheduled to open January 2013.

This project’s training will enable Koda RNs to confidently lead post-acute care teams when the new facility opens and Owatonna Hospital patients arrive, according to Terry Schnneider,  Koda Living Community’s administrator and CEO.

“Koda will be able to meet the needs of the community more readily by offering improved access to necessary health services provided by qualified workers,” said Schneider.

Owatonna Hospital and their patients will benefit from the project. The type of PACU under development at Koda has been proven to significantly decrease hospital readmissions within 30-days of discharge. Re-hospitalizations incur unnecessary costs by perpetuating unneeded health services in the most expensive settings (hospitals). By discharging post-acute patients to Koda, Owatonna Hospital will be better able to meet their goal of averting readmissions, ultimately helping decrease unnecessary governmental spending.

“We commend Koda, the Benedictine Health System, Owatonna Hospital and Riverland for their participation in this project,” Steele County Admnistrator Tom Shea stated in a letter of support. “Their efforts further Steele County’s goal to help bring the appropriate level of health care to identified recipients, in the right amount, at the right time, in a very individualized and relational level.