NATCHEZ — Just as a mandate had been issued by President Joe Biden on Nov. 4 requiring businesses that employ 100 or more people to require vaccinations or weekly testing of its employees, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued notice of the new requirements to hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities.
The notice states they will require COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of all facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs in accordance with the federal mandate.
There is no weekly testing option for healthcare employees under the program.
They must be vaccinated.
According to CMS, these requirements apply to approximately 76,000 providers and cover over 17 million health care workers across the country.
This includes Merit Health Natchez, who passed this notice along to employees last week.
The hospital has not responded to questions about how many of its employees are unvaccinated or whether any have expressed unwillingness to be vaccinated.
In an email from Kay Ketchings, who is the director of marketing for Merit Health Natchez, the hospital issued a statement which said, “The majority of our caregivers already have chosen to be vaccinated and more are making that choice now.”
Ketchings said, “Should any of our employees choose not to meet the deadlines of this federal mandate, they will be off the work schedule until they choose to become compliant.”
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