He said only three unvaccinated employees have left the Friendly Home since implementing the mandate, but the majority of their unvaccinated employees have been receptive. “From our standpoint as a healthcare provider, we just felt it was the right thing to do and the families are very grateful that we made the decision,” said Perrotta. Friendly Home recognizes that getting vaccinated is a personal decision for employees, but with the Delta variant of the coronavirus on the rise, a mandate was necessary. Michael Perrotta, vice president of Friendly Home, said the nursing home implemented their own vaccine mandate in late July. Some local healthcare facilities that already had their own mandate say the new state directive is in the best interest of their patients. Right now, 68% of the state’s nursing home workers are vaccinated Chambrey says that number is low compared to residents whose vaccination rate average is near 90%. “There will be those who decide that they just can’t get vaccinated or they won’t be vaccinated and the facilities are already struggling with staffing as most businesses are,” said Chambery. "But it would be unlikely that state workers would have different protocols than private or public facilities would."Ĭhambery added that not having the testing as an option for unvaccinated employees could affect staffing at nursing homes that are already strained for resources. And we’re suspecting that may be the case with this mandate," Chambery said. "State workers can either take the vaccine or they be tested on a frequent basis. Keith Chambery, executive director of Genesee Health Facilities Association, which represents residents and health care professionals in 37 regional facilities, said the administrators at his facilities are hoping their workers will be given the same guidance as healthcare workers employed by the state. The mandate raises questions for healthcare providers who are still awaiting guidance from the state health department. She said she feels neutral about the mandate but is hoping Unity will offer weekly COVID-19 testing as an alternative. 27th deadline set by the state earlier this week. Vargas is among thousands of unvaccinated healthcare workers who will have to decide to get the COVID-19 vaccine by the Sept. "The fact that it’s new played a role in me not wanting to get the vaccine." "We literally created a vaccine within a year, and that’s like unheard of," said Vargas. Jada Vargas, a patient care technician at Unity Hospital spent much of last year working on a COVID unit and is still very hesitant to get the vaccine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |