Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik today joined her colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden condemning his decision to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all staff within Medicare and Medicaid-certified healthcare facilities and knowingly creating a workforce shortage at the expense of hospital and nursing home patients.
Several states are already nearing or exceeding hospital capacity, and many Medicare and Medicaid providers, especially nursing homes, are struggling to hire and retain enough employees to comply with state and federal staffing requirements.
“Our healthcare workers carried us through this pandemic. Now, vaccine mandates are forcing them out of the workforce as if they are replaceable,” Stefanik said. “The shortsightedness of President Biden’s authoritarian power grab is creating yet another crisis, dismantling hospitals' ability to serve and putting our hospital and nursing home patients at greater risk. Already, hospitals in the North Country are unable to operate at full capacity due to the consequences of vaccine mandates. I will continue to fight against this unlawful power grab.”
On September 9, the Biden Administration directed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a vaccine mandate that will affect virtually all healthcare employees in the country. Many healthcare providers are already facing capacity limits and are having difficulty maintaining staff.
The New York State vaccine mandate is already exacerbating these healthcare workforce issues, especially in the North Country. Recently, a North Country Hospital temporarily closed its maternity ward because of staffing shortages due to vaccine mandates.
Read the full letter, led by Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), here.
