Officials with the Arkansas Hospital Association (AHA) say hospitals that do not comply with a federal vaccine mandate could be shut down. In less than a month, healthcare workers in the state will have to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine dose after the Supreme Court ruled it into law last week.
KATV reports AHA executive vice president Jodiane Tritt says hospitals have to follow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations. Tritt says CMS is a federal program that provides reimbursement to hospitals that care for patients with Medicare or Medicaid.
Tritt says, “Because we have to follow those terms and conditions, we’ll obviously have to follow these laws in order to still be able to get reimbursed for taking care of those patients who are really most vulnerable.”
Tritt said hospitals will also lose millions of dollars if they don’t comply with the mandate. She says there is a concern about losing healthcare employees because of the new law.
has been taken out of the hands of the hospital, they have no choice but to follow with the federal regulation.”
According to Tritt, hospital staff members must have their first vaccine shot by Feb. 14 and be fully vaccinated by March 15. Tritt says religious and medical reasons are the only two exemptions that healthcare workers would not have to get vaccinated. She says that hospitals will have to be fair with staff exemption considerations.
Following the Supreme Court ruling last week, KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news reached out to Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) for comment and feedback regarding the timeline for employees to respond to the vaccine mandate.
In a written statement in response to the request, BRMC President and CEO Ron Peterson said, “Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate for health care workers to go into effect. We recognize that this vaccine requirement will create additional workforce staffing issues, at a time when our workforce is already short in supply and exhausted by the many demands of COVID-19. We will work diligently to balance the requirements from CMS with the need to retain a sufficient workforce in order to continue providing high quality care to the areas we serve.”
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