Iowa Hospital Association recently issued the following announcement.
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 5-4 in favor of upholding the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate nationwide. The court also ruled 6-3 in blocking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine and testing mandate.
The CMS mandate requires facilities that provide Medicare and Medicaid services to ensure eligible staff have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The mandate does provide exemptions based on recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs, observances or practices.
"The Iowa Hospital Association maintains that vaccines are an important tool to combat COVID-19, but we have always believed that Iowa’s hospitals and health systems are best positioned to implement policies or appropriate clinical responses in their communities and should be allowed to do so,” said Chris Mitchell, president and CEO of the Iowa Hospital Association.
On Dec. 28, CMS issued guidance extending the compliance deadline of the vaccine mandate to 30 days from the date of a CMS announcement to implement the requirements of the mandate. It’s anticipated CMS will act quickly, and health care organizations will be expected to comply by mid-February.
“Now that the Supreme Court ruling has lifted the ban on the CMS vaccine mandate, we will work with our member hospitals to achieve compliance, recognizing a vaccine requirement has the potential to create additional staffing issues at a time when our workforce is already exhausted by the many demands of COVID-19,” Mitchell said.
Original source can be found here.
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