By Patrick Adrian EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — A new Sullivan County policy in compliance with new federal regulations will require county nursing home employees, including site-based employees like maintenance staff, to have at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot by Dec. 6 and to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4.
Sullivan County Commissioners reluctantly consented to a new policy that will require all employees in the county nursing home building to be vaccinated, as required by new federal rules issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
“I just want to go on record that I don’t support any of this. But if it has to be done then it has to be done,” said Commissioner Chair George Hebert. “I just want these people to know that I didn’t support it.”
The commissioners felt the policy was an internal matter and did not require the commission’s approval.
While the commissioners said they support vaccination requirements for health care employees who work directly with patients and residents, they disagreed that the regulations should apply to all employees in the building, such as administrators, clerical workers or maintenance staff.
One regulation appears to go even further, requiring county employees in other departments to be vaccinated if they interact with a nursing home employee off-site.
Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland said he needs to seek further clarification about that requirement before considering its incorporation into county policy. Ferland said monitoring who employees interact with outside of the facility is virtually impossible.
“You can look at the number of people in the [nursing home] building and very quickly ascertain their vaccination status,” Ferland told the county commissioners. “But where they go [off-site] or whether they had a meeting off-site with other unvaccinated people, I don’t know how in the world to begin to assess that or enforce that.”
For now the county policy will limit its vaccination requirements to employees who work in the nursing home facility.
But county officials still foresee operational challenges to apply the policy to all building-based employees.
On a positive note 92 percent of the nursing home staff are fully vaccinated. Only 15 employees, nearly all of whom are per diem, are still unvaccinated.
Human Resources Director Hilary Snide also reported on Monday that of the 14 per diem nurses who are still unvaccinated, seven have committed to get vaccinated while only two nurses have said they will not.
Ferland said the bigger challenge, hypothetically speaking, would be if a specialized technician, like a certified electrician, declined to get vaccinated. Filling such positions, whether through direct hire or a subcontract, can take several weeks and leave the facility without a skilled professional should there be a failure in the infrastructure system.
Hebert took issue with firing a non-health care employee over not getting vaccinated and urged county administrators to find a way to retain them in a role off-site.
“I don’t suppose getting rid of anybody who doesn’t get vaccinated, because that is their right,” Hebert said.
Ferland said there is already one employee whom the county will be able to retain because the position does not necessitate being in the nursing home building. However, the county cannot guarantee that accommodation for all employees, particularly if the person’s role pertains directly to the nursing home.
County Health Care Administrator Ted Purdy said he does not expect the nursing home to lose many employees. Most of the still unvaccinated health care workers are indicating they plan to get vaccinated, whereas the few who are still refusing will most likely have to leave the health care industry entirely.
Purdy also disagreed with Hebert regarding prioritizing individual liberty over health and public safety.
“If we are going to take care of the vulnerable, elderly or anyone else we accept for Medicare or Medicaid dollars, we have a higher responsibility to act in a way that protects ourselves so we can protect the residents,” Purdy said.
Purdy has been a vocal advocate for community-wide vaccinations. Despite the high vaccination rate in the nursing home, the rates of fully-vaccinated residents in surrounding communities like Claremont, Newport, and Unity remain below 50 percent.
Purdy added that, despite occasional infections among the nursing home staff, there has not been a reinfection among residents “in several months.”
Commissioner Ben Nelson said he was troubled by the inconsistency of the CMS regulations, who did not require subcontractors to be vaccinated, only employees.
Purdy said the difference, according to the federal regulations, was that an employee would be in the building regularly and likely have more interaction with health care employees than a temporary subcontractor.
In an interview with the Eagle Times, Ferland said that New Hampshire, as well as Missouri, have already filed lawsuits against the CMS regulations, meaning there could possibly be a court-ordered injunction to halt the regulations prior to the Dec. 6 deadline.
But in the meantime, the county legally has to “move forward” with a policy, Ferland said.
On a positive note, the county’s monetary incentive for employees to vaccinate was an “incredibly successful” initiative, Ferland said.
Under the initiative, the county gave a $300 bonus to every county employee who was fully vaccinated by an October deadline. The vaccination rate among county nursing home employees increased nearly 20 percent.
reporter @eagletimes.com
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