Hospital CEO fears losing employees due to vaccine mandate

    With a workforce already short-staffed, the guidelines for health institutions that mandate a COVID-19 vaccine for employees likely has all hospital administrators wondering what lies ahead.
    Abby Cyboron, CEO at Chase County Community Hospital, is in that group.
    While she said she is trying to be as “matter-of-fact” with the process as possible, the looming vaccination deadlines have her a bit concerned.
    Unless a preliminary injunction is granted in a lawsuit filed by 10 states, including Nebraska, employees at CCCH and its clinics in Imperial and Wauneta will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 4, 2022.
    It’s been less than a month since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the guideline that requires COVID-19 vaccinations for more than 17 million healthcare workers in about 76,000 health care facilities and home health care providers that receive funding from the government health programs.
    Cyboron said until the Nov. 4 guideline came out they were taking a wait-and-see approach.
    “When those clarifications came through, we knew then we had to do something and move forward,” Cyboron said.
    She added, however, “We would not be doing this if not mandated to do it.”
    To comply, non-vaccinated employees must receive their first vaccination no later than Dec. 5 and have the vaccination process completed by Jan. 4, 2022.
    Being in a rural area, CCCH and its clinics rely on Medicare and Medicaid patients in a big way.
    Sixty-four percent of the hospital’s net revenue alone comes from CMS payments, Cyboron said.
    That amounts to more than $8 million in revenue annually.
    The hospital and its clinics have 103 employees.
    As of last week, approximately 52% are fully vaccinated, she said.

    Is she fearful of losing staff because of the mandate?
    In a word—yes.
    Cyboron said they already have eight health care-related vacancies now, and three other positions to fill.
    And, they are also using at least three “agency” staff on the hospital floor and in the lab, she added.
    Bringing in agency staff from outside the area means higher salaries for those people, she said.
    Cyboron said they are trying to work through the details of the deadlines.
    But, she asks herself why would the government mandate this after nearly two years of dealing with what the pandemic handed hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.
    That alone caused a major issue with workforce shortages that still remains not only in healthcare but many businesses.
    “I don’t think they considered small, rural hospitals when they put in this mandate,” she said.
    “You have to ask ‘what were they thinking?’” she said.
    She said usually the government steps in to help, “but this feels the opposite.”
    The local staff is burned-out in some cases, she added.
    “This feels like one more straw that could break the camel’s back,” she said.
    While the healthcare facilities here also have to take precautions with vendors and service people that do business with them, Cyboron said they are focusing on their employees right now.
There are exemptions
    Unless a court injunction is granted, Cyboron said employees who don’t want the vaccine have three options:
    1) If possible, they can work 100% from home. They cannot step into the facilities or interact with coworkers or patients.
    2) Seek a medical exemption.
    3) Seek a religious exemption.
    All of the exemption requests are being handled internally, she said.
Lawsuit filed by states
    The lawsuit filed in a federal court in Missouri contends that the vaccine requirement threatens the jobs of millions of healthcare workers and could “exacerbate an alarming shortage’’ in healthcare fields, particularly in rural areas where some health workers have been hesitant to get the shots.
    Joining the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
    All are Republicans except for Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller of Iowa, whose state is led by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.
    The lawsuit contends that numerous health workers are likely to be fired, retire or quit rather than get vaccinated for COVID-19, which it said “jeopardizes the healthcare interests of rural Americans.’’
    The lawsuit points to concerns from rural hospital administrators in Missouri and Nebraska.
    For example, it says that Great Plains Health in North Platte is able to staff only about 70 of its 116 beds because of workforce shortages.
    It has also received notice from a majority of personnel in its behavioral health unit that they would resign rather than be vaccinated.
    The healthcare lawsuit follows similar ones by Republican-led states challenging new Biden administration rules that will require federal contractors to ensure their workers are vaccinated and that businesses with more than 100 employees require their workers to get vaccinated or wear masks and get tested weekly for the coronavirus.
    All of the mandates are scheduled to take effect Jan. 4
    But the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already has temporarily blocked the business vaccine rule, saying it raises “grave statutory and constitutional issues.’’
    (Staff and Associated Press reports were used to compile this story.)