Concerns over staffing as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate looms, remains at the forefront of concerns for local health care providers.
During the monthly COVID-19 update to Lyon County Commissioners, Lyon County Public Health Officer Dr. Ladun Oyenuga stated that staffing remains at a critical level. She says the issue is two-fold at the hospital, either the hospital has the bed space to accommodate patients but not enough staff, or plenty of staff but not enough bed space.
She, and Incident Commander and Flint Hills Community Health Center CEO Renee Hively, expect this issue will only be exacerbated by the pending mandate requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated. Hively says the country is already seeing a large “exodus” of individuals from the health care profession due to the mandate.
She feels the local community is likely to see a similar response once the mandate takes effect.
Dr. Oyenuga believes the mandate will not be the only issue that forces individuals out of the profession. She says there is a concern that the loss of staff could lead to an increased workload for remaining staff.
She says their staff is up for the challenge, however, everyone has their breaking point.
At this time, the FHCHC has a staff vaccination rate of 94 percent while Newman has a vaccination rate of 80 percent amongst its staff.
Word on an exact date for when President Biden’s mandate will take effect has yet to be announced, however, it is expected at some point in early to mid-October.
In other business, Commissioners formally approved an increase in budget authority for the 2021 budget which was approved for publication during the commission’s Sept. 9 action meeting. The new budget saw the Road and Bridge Fund increase from $6 million to $6.7 million and the multi-year fund increase from just over $2.5 million to $3.4 million.
Lyon County Controller Dan Williams says the increases were simply precautionary measures to ensure the county is prepared for any unexpected expenditures over the remainder of the year. He says the county can easily accommodate the increases as sales tax revenues have averaged $261,000 per month, well ahead of original expectations, giving the county around $2.6 million in unencumbered cash.
The Lyon County Commission will reconvene for its regular action session next Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse followed by its quarterly meeting with Emporia City Commissioners at 11:30 am.
