Centre Care will require all staff at the College Township nursing facility to receive COVID-19 vaccinations by Oct. 5, according to a statement from its nonprofit board.
The mandate comes after an announcement by President Joe Biden in August that nursing home employees nationwide would be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for facilities to continue receiving Medicaid and Medicare funds.
Centre Care, which moved from Centre Crest in Bellefonte to its new $45 million facility on Persia Road in March, is the de facto county nursing home and the largest nursing facility in Centre County licensed to provide Medicaid care. About three quarters of its residents receive Medicaid.
More than 85 percent of Centre Care staff are currently vaccinated, according to the board’s statement. That outpaces the national staff vaccination rate in nursing homes of 61.1% and Pennsylvania staff vaccination rate of 61.63%.
“We will continue to monitor and implement the latest recommendations from state and federal health departments and are committed to the hard work of keeping our residents and staff—and their families—safe and healthy,” the board’s statement reads.
All new hires already are required to have the COVID-19 vaccination prior to beginning work at Centre Care. Staff who are currently unvaccinated also have additional personal protective equipment requirements.
Vaccinated and unvaccinated staff members are tested twice weekly, exceeding Department of Health recommendations.
While visitors are not required to be vaccinated, they are required to wear masks and visitations, scheduled in advance, are limited to 30 minutes.
“We have also expanded our already rigorous cleaning program, at great expense, to enhance safety and mitigate risk of spreading the virus,” the board’s statement said.
The national vaccine mandate for nursing home staff comes through an emergency regulation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the more than 15,000 facilities that participate in the programs.
“The data are clear that higher levels of staff vaccination are linked to fewer outbreaks among residents, many of whom are at an increased risk of infection, hospitalization or death,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a statement.
Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, said his organization appreciates the step but that the Biden administration should go further.
“Vaccination mandates for health care personnel should be applied to all health care settings. Without this, nursing homes face a disastrous workforce challenge,” Parkinson said in a statement.
“Focusing only on nursing homes will cause vaccine hesitant workers to flee to other health care providers and leave many centers without adequate staff to care for residents. It will make an already difficult workforce shortage even worse. The net effect of this action will be the opposite of its intent and will affect the ability to provide quality care to our residents.”
