To require vaccinations or to not require vaccinations. That, to paraphrase William Shakespeare, is the question.
The dilemma became particularly perplexing this week as many organizations, including LeadingAge, which represents home care providers in addition to other long-term care providers, put down stakes on this issue. They declared that they support mandatory vaccinations.
It is a bold stance to take.
Of course, it is understandable that the two major home care associations, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice and the Home Care Association of America, decidedly said they are not throwing their muscle behind vaccine requirements for home care companies. In a field that is already so strapped for workers and which was dealt a crippling blow from the pandemic, there is a lot of consternation that workers will leave for other jobs, possibly exiting the industry for good.
But will this happen? I’m not so sure.
This outcome has not borne out among those healthcare providers that have taken this step, said Robin Jump, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University, who spoke on a LeadingAge membership call this week.
“It’s a legitimate fear, but I think the reality of it hasn’t happened,” she said, citing the example of Houston Methodist Hospital, which has lost under 200 people after requiring employees to receive COVID-19 shots in April.
There are other good reasons to institute a requirement:
-The vaccine protects the most vulnerable — seniors — along with workers.
-The vaccine is good for business.
-If all areas of healthcare start to impose mandates, there will be nowhere workers can go.
-Government may be going this way anyway, if President Biden’s latest mandate for federal workers is any guide.
Bottom line? Home care firms should not let fear prevent them from doing what is right, and that is to require employees to get vaccinated.
Liza Berger is editor of McKnight’s Home Care. Email her at [email protected]. The views expressed above do not necessarily reflect the views of McKnight’s.
