Growing calls for vaccine mandates among health care workers have gained urgency but also met resistance in the nursing home industry, where some homes say it will cost them staff members in an industry already plagued with high turnover.
Tina Sandri, the chief executive of Forest Hills Nursing Home, receives the coronavirus vaccine in Washington, Feb. 1, 2021.
About 133,000 nursing home residents died of COVID over the course of the pandemic, although the death rate has plummeted in recent months with more than 80% of residents now vaccinated. Overall, COVID deaths among nursing home residents and staff members accounted for nearly one-third of the nation’s pandemic fatalities.
Last week, the American Health Care Association, the nursing home industry’s main trade group, instead said it supported continued efforts to educate workers. While the cases at nursing homes are far below their peak of last December, the latest government data from mid-July show they had more than doubled to more than 700 cases from a low of 322 at the end of June. And states like Kansas and Louisiana appear to be experiencing outbreaks of breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated residents.
Bury, the chief executive of Good Samaritan, said the delta variant gave him “tremendous concern” and added he supported widespread mandates. He emphasized the need to respect the concerns of nursing home workers, mainly women of color. In public opinion polls, Black Americans have expressed skepticism of the new vaccines, citing historical misuse of research in their communities.
As it is, Holly Heights is down at least a dozen staff members in the nursing department and last month offered a $2,500 signing bonus to attract employees. Recruiting has become even more difficult because of fears of working in a nursing home. The CDC recently investigated an outbreak at a memory care center in Mesa County, Colorado, where 16 vaccinated residents contracted COVID-19 and four died. The agency is expected to publish its findings shortly.
Some nursing home staff members resisting vaccination argue that they can protect residents without being inoculated. “I go home, stay home as much as possible, do grocery pickup instead of shopping, do a lot of hand-washing. I’m not exposing myself to other people,” said Jessica M., a director of nursing at a home in Grand Junction, Colorado, who is unvaccinated.
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