Newman Regional Health has stated its intent to comply with a recent federal mandate requiring vaccinations for all employees as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge.
The mandate, announced Thursday by President Joe Biden, will require all employees of health care centers reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated.
Newman CEO Bob Wright says the recent announcement did not come as a surprise.
Failure to comply with the mandate would mean an end to said reimbursements for any health center.
Wright says Newman really has no other option but to comply with the mandate as a stoppage in reimbursements would be a massive financial hit to the hospital.
According to Wright, the hospital received right around $10 million in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements last year alone. However, the potential financial hit could be as much as $30 million worth of incoming revenue for providing care to Medicare and Medicaid patients. No grant programs are affected.
Wright says vaccinations will be encouraged until the official mandate is published, perhaps as soon as next month.
Meanwhile, FHCHC CEO Renee Hively was unavailable for an interview, however, she did state in a message to KVOE News that the health center will continue to require mask use inside its facility for all staff who are unvaccinated until further notice. She reports that as of Friday FHCHC has a roughly 98 percent vaccination rate amongst all staff.
