Merrimack County mandates vaccine for nursing home, assisted living workers
Aug. 18—Merrimack County officials are requiring all workers at the county-run skilled-nursing and assisted-living homes to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the latest health care organization in the state to order inoculations.
The mandate, approved last week, covers county employees at the 290-bed nursing home and 29-bed Gerrish Manor assisted-living facility in Boscawen. All workers, except those with a valid medical reason or "sincerely held religious objection," must be vaccinated by Oct. 1.
Four workers have quit since last week, when Merrimack County commissioners announced the policy, said nursing home administrator Matt Lagos.
"The policy was adopted to protect the health and safety of (Merrimack County) Nursing Home and Gerrish Manor employees, residents and visitors, as well as to expand protections to the community at large," commission Chairman Tara Reardon, a Democrat, said in a statement.
She said the action allows the county to protect residents from critical staffing shortages that could result in a COVID-19 outbreak among unvaccinated staff.
So far in New Hampshire, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, U.S. Veterans Affairs facilities and Genesis, the largest owner of private nursing homes in the state, have announced vaccination requirements for staff.
County-operated nursing homes are specifically exempt by the Medical Freedom in Immunizations Law, signed by Gov. Chris Sununu last month, which prohibits state and local governments from requiring vaccinations to receive access to government benefits or any public service.
According to the New Hampshire Health Care Association, a trade group that includes nursing homes, New Hampshire has a staff vaccination rate of just under 76%, and it is fourth-best in the country for vaccination rate of nursing home residents, 92%.
Brendan Williams, president and chief executive of the organization, said he commends any organization that mandates vaccinations.
Even though Health Care Association policy is to require vaccinations, there is a drawback, according to Williams.
"With facilities actually turning away prospective residents where they cannot responsibly staff to their needs, many facilities cannot afford to lose vaccine-hesitant staff," he said.
That's what happened in Merrimack County.
Three part-time workers and an LNA quit once the policy was announced, Lagos said.
"I anticipate a few others will resign. We anticipate that this could also attract new staff who want a safe working environment and healthy place for the residents," he said.
Two-thirds of the organization's 530 workers are currently vaccinated, and 20 signed up after the announcement.
He said the reasons the unvaccinated have given for not getting immunized include no trust in the vaccine, concern that its production was rushed and the view that it is experimental. You can still spread COVID-19 if vaccinated, some point out.
Lagos said the county enters into bargaining next week with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents the nursing home workers. He said the bargaining will focus on the terms and conditions of the policy and how it affects members.
