Rural hospitals face widespread nursing shortages and lagging employee coronavirus-vaccination rates

"Vaccine hesitancy among rural health facilities remains rampant even as providers faced a major surge of Covid-19 due to the more transmissible Delta variant, a new study finds," Robert King reports for Fierce Healthcare. The study, released last week by the Chartis Group, "also found that nurse staffing shortages are contributing to suspensions in care in vulnerable communities." About 30 percent of respondents said the nursing shortage had caused their facility to suspend medical services, mainly surgeries, and another 22% said they were considering that.

Over 98% of the facilities surveyed reported staff shortages, mostly nurses. Burnout, retirement, and going for a better-paying job at another hospital are the main causes of the shortages, not mandates; in fact, about 75% of respondents said their facility doesn't have a mandate, King reports. The lack of mandates may have contributed to lower vaccination rates, the study noted.

However, vaccination rates are rising: "Chartis spoke with rural hospitals across the country from Sept. 21 to Oct. 15 and found that 44% of respondents said 50% to 69% of professionals in their facility were fully vaccinated," King reports. "That is an improvement on an earlier survey conducted in March and April of this year, where 37% of respondents said 50% to 69% of professionals were vaccinated."

The vaccination numbers will have to ramp up if the federal government's mandate takes effect. The rule would require all staffers to be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or risk losing federal reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid patients. But 10 states have challenged the mandate in court, so its future is uncertain.