Centre Care to require COVID-19 vaccination from all staff, following recent Biden announcement
Centre Care, which operates the long-term care facility in College Township, announced Thursday it is requiring its entire staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 5, in response to a new federal policy that will tie funding to the mandate.
President Joe Biden said last month that his administration will soon require nursing home staff to be vaccinated against COVID as a condition for those facilities continuing to receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. Centre Care Rehabilitation and Wellness Services, a $45 million facility that opened in March, is the largest facility in the county licensed to accept Medicaid.
“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,” read a written statement from Centre Care’s nonprofit board.
According to the board, 85% of Centre Care staff are currently vaccinated, well above the national vaccination rate of nursing home staff (61.8%). Centre Care visitors are still not required to be vaccinated but must wear a face mask; all visitations are currently limited to 30 minutes and must be scheduled in advance.
Centre Care’s announcement comes several months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detailed how low vaccination rates among nursing home staff raises the risk of outbreaks. In March, for instance, a 46-case outbreak in Kentucky was traced to an unvaccinated worker.
Mark Parkinson, the president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, praised last month’s Biden decision, but called on him to go even further.
“Vaccination mandates for health care personnel should be applied to all health care settings,” he told The Associated Press. “Without this, nursing homes face a disastrous workforce challenge.”
According to the Centre Care board, its facility exceeds state guidance recommendations by testing staff — both vaccinated and unvaccinated — twice weekly with rapid point of care testing. It has also expanded its cleaning program “at great expense” to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus among its more than 180 residents.
“President Joe Biden’s recent announcement soon requires all personnel to be vaccinated in order for the facility to continue receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding, which is vital to Centre Care’s operation,” the statement from the board read. “To that end, we are requiring all of our staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 5 due to the risks the disease poses to older adults within our congregate care setting.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
