With the lowest vaccination rate among nursing home staff in the country, currently at 56.71%, Missouri’s health department is looking to provide operators some flexibility should they see a mass staff exodus ahead of President Biden’s vaccine mandate.
The emergency rule, published on Friday, is meant as a precaution that will allow skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities to close for up to two years if they are short staffed and unable to operate as a result of the mandate.
Nursing homes that do close as a result will be allowed to reopen without having to start the licensure process from scratch, according to the rule.
The next several weeks should be telling or the sector as the mandate, originally announced in August, will require all staff to receive the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 6.
The new rule marked the second time the state directly responded to the health care worker mandate in less than a week.
Missouri was among 10 states to sue the Biden Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last Wednesday over the mandate. The suit, filed by the 10 states attorneys general in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, argued that mandating the vaccine would only worsen the current workforce shortage — particularly in rural communities.
Missouri Department of Health spokesperson Lisa Cox told Skilled Nursing News that the new rule was drafted out of an abundance of caution, adding that some facilities may have no other option than to close if unable to keep or hire unvaccinated employees.
“Current vaccination rates for nursing facility staff in Missouri as of 10/31/2021 is 56.71%,” Cox said. “CMS has stated facilities that are out of compliance will be cited and provided an opportunity to return to compliance. If they not, CMS may use enforcement remedies, such as civil monetary penalties, denial of payment, and even termination from the Medicare and Medicaid program as a final measure.”
Cox said the health department wanted to be prepared and have the flexibility to allow homes to temporarily close if they are unable to hire vaccinated employees.
The vaccine mandate comes during a troubling time for the sector staffing wise as nursing homes lost 221,000 jobs during the pandemic, or 14% of their workforce, since March 2020, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data through October.
Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) pointed to chronic Medicaid underfunding and burned out employees as two reasons for the shortage when the report came out earlier this month.
As vaccination variability continues to be seen across the country, the impact the vaccine mandate will have on nursing homes’ ability to keep current staff and recruit new ones remains to be seen.
Some like Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) CEO Rick Matros feel the fear over a massive staff exit is not supported by the data, while others are less optimistic.
Minnesota-operator Health Dimensions Group originally planned on mandating the vaccine for its staff by Nov. 1, but concerns over the significant loss of staff it would cause pushed HDG to move the deadline back.
Minnesota’s staff vaccination rate is slightly above the national average at 74.18%.
Vaccine hesitancy, seen across the state, is one reason for Missouri’s low numbers, according to Cox.
Companies featured in this article:
American Health Care Association, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Dimensions Group, Sabra Health Care REIT
