North Platte Hospital has More Than 80-Percent of Employees Vaccinated

A Nebraska hospital, currently meeting requirements, hopes to get more employees to follow a nationwide vaccine mandate following a Supreme Court decision. By February 14th, all healthcare personnel in Nebraska must take the first dose of a COVID vaccine or file an exemption for medical or religious reasons. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have threatened to take federal aid away from facilities not in compliance.

Ivan Mitchell is the CEO at Great Plains Health based in North Platte. He said 89% of Great Plains employees are vaccinated or have an exemption, and the hospital will continue talking with the rest of medical workers at the hospital.

“We try to take a real personal and caring approach, letting them know how much we value them and want them to be a part of our team. We go over the requirements that this is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 60% of our patients are either Medicare or Medicaid patients and so for us to fulfill our mission, we are going to have to provide care for these patients.”

If someone doesn’t meet the requirement by the deadline, Mitchell said the employee would be put on unpaid leave. The Centers for Medicaid doesn’t plan on taking away funding, if 80% or more of an organization's workers are vaccinated or exempt and the hospital has a plan to get the rest of the employees to follow.

A few people left Great Plains when the mandate was announced. Mitchell said finding nurses right now is a challenge. The Great Plains CEO said the hospital has countered by hiring internationally, offering bonuses to those picking up shifts and starting an accelerated nursing program through the University of Nebraska Medicine.