Short-Term Rehab Facilities Continue to Face Vaccine Struggles

Short-term nursing facilities across the country continue to wrestle with vaccine-hesitant staff even as residents line up for the vaccination.

Thanks to new federal guidance, visitors and residents in some states can now socialize without masks if both can produce vaccine cards. But even as facility managers celebrate this, they are still working to convince staff it’s worth getting vaccinated at all.

“It’s not patients coming in, it’s staff not being vaccinated that’s the biggest challenge,” said Bridgemoor Transitional Care President and former Mainstreet executive Mark Fritz.

Residents are not required to be vaccinated before arrival, but those who are fully vaccinated upon admission may skip the isolated facility wings set aside for new residents during COVID-19 depending on the state. Several short-term nursing facility leaders told Skilled Nursing News they work with pharmacies to coordinate vaccine doses for their staff as well as transient residents.

Earlier this year, pharmacies hosted on-site vaccine clinics at facilities to administer the shot to multiple people. Now managers say they offer on-demand vaccinations to individual staff and residents. But despite this convenience — and the prospect of no longer needing regular COVID-19 tests — managers say some staff remain hesitant.

“Everybody has got different news sources they’re pulling from”

Bridgemoor runs four nursing facilities in Texas and is aiming to vaccinate all staff. But so far, culinary and housekeeping staff members have been much more willing to get the vaccine than Bridgemoor’s biggest staff group: nurses. “I think we mimic across the country how healthcare workers have been some of the most noncompliant,” said Fritz.

A recent study from the National Institute on Aging found that vaccine fears are widespread among SNF staff as COVID-19 misinformation runs rampant in nursing facilities nationwide.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control gave the green light for states to admit visitors in nursing facilities, provided that at least 70% of residents are fully vaccinated. Facility operators told SNN they’ve now vaccinated almost all residents and are aiming for 75% of staff to get the vaccine as well, a benchmark they hope could curb COVID-19 outbreaks.

However, Fritz told SNN that across his four short term nursing facilities in Texas, only about 60% of staff are vaccinated. “I’ve been very disappointed personally,” he said.

“Everybody has got different news sources they’re pulling from, social media,” noted Ignite Medical Resorts Chief Clinical Officer John McFarlane. “There’s so much information. We just try to stick to the facts.”

Ignite, which operates 10 facilities spanning Wisconsin to Oklahoma, also reported that patients have been more interested in the shot than staff. Around 80% of their patients are vaccinated, compared to just over 70% of their staff, per McFarlane.

Illinois-based company Thrive, which provides short term rehab stays and their Innovative Health partner Transitional Care Management (TCM) also noted a similar dynamic in their facilities.

“Our goal is that 70% of our eligible residents and staff are vaccinated,” TCM Chief Clinic Officer Michelle Stuercke told SNN. “We have been able to meet this goal for residents and working hard with education for staff to achieve this level.”

Toughly 50% of TCM’s SNF are currently vaccinated, according to Stuercke.

“Vaccine hesitancy to vaccine acceptance”

One study indicates that SNF staff nationwide are warming to the vaccine, with 23% of staff surveyed in March saying they would refuse the shot, down from 39% of workers surveyed in December. One reason may be the ongoing efforts to educate people and combat misinformation spread online.

Earlier this year, Ignite tapped one of their medical directors to create their own webinar explaining how the COVID-19 vaccine works and the potential symptoms people could experience post-injection.

The company has also hosted events to encourage staff to get vacinated, from food trucks and ice cream days to giveaways of company merchandise and chances to win tickets to local outdoor events.

“Anything that we can do to try to positively reinforce our healthcare staff and residents and try to take the anxiety out of it is extremely important we found,” added McFarlane. “Just trying to fundamentally explain what the vaccine is made up of and how it’s going to protect you is really key.”

TCM has also been on a mission to raise vaccination rates with education, holding regular “question and answer” sessions about the shot and its side effects, per TCM’s Stuercke.

“As more individuals are becoming vaccinated we are seeing more individuals feel more comfortable receiving the vaccine, and our staff are moving from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine acceptance,” she said.

Written by Sloane Airey