LAS CRUCES – Days after a deadline, two of the city’s major hospitals say they haven’t seen the staff shortage feared by opponents of government vaccination for health workers.
Under an August 17 state health ordinance requiring healthcare facility workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment, workers had until August 27 to take the first dose of Pfizer’s BioNTech or Moderna vaccine series two doses or the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine.
Workers receiving Pfizer or Moderna have 40 days to receive their second dose after the first dose.
There are some exceptions for employees with medical or religious reasons preventing them from getting the injection. As a precautionary measure, these employees must agree to undergo weekly COVID-19 tests if their exemption is granted.
Even in local hospitals, it is still compulsory to wear a mask regardless of the vaccination.
Memorial Medical Center said Tuesday that more than 97 percent of its employees are at least partially vaccinated or qualified for a public health ordinance exception. Less than a week ago it was 87 percent.
Last week the hospital hosted some vaccination clinics to help staff meet the state deadline.
The hospital said it was working with objectors to get them vaccinated or to apply for a waiver, said MMC spokesman Ryan Perkins, but the staff are sufficient.
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“As with many hospitals around the country, staffing continues to be a challenge,” Perkins said in a statement. “We continue to closely monitor our workforce. We currently have sufficient staff and resources to care for our patients.”
Perkins did not say whether MMC employees had resigned since the mandate took effect. He said last week that MMC’s policy is not to fire unvaccinated workers without valid exception, but instead MMC would remove them from the roster indefinitely and allow them to enjoy free or unpaid time off.
MountainView Regional Medical Center did not disclose the most recent percentage of vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. Last Wednesday, 80 percent of the employees were vaccinated, it said.
189 MountainView employees were either vaccinated or given exemptions following the August 17 public health order, MountainView spokeswoman Catherine Zaharko told Sun-News.
On Tuesday, Zaharko said seven employees are off MountainView’s schedule “while deciding whether to get vaccinated, apply for an exemption or step down”.
To the best of Zaharko’s knowledge, no one resigned or fired because they had not been vaccinated and had not received a special permit.
MountainView has not yet faced any bottlenecks or canceled appointments. All currently scheduled employees are either vaccinated or have a valid waiver.
However, Zaharko did not provide the total number of hospital staff, so the percentage of vaccinated and unvaccinated staff cannot be derived from the number of unplanned staff. The combined proportion of those who are likely to be vaccinated and those with a valid special permit is also unknown.
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“Currently, our hospital is fortunate to have sufficient capacity, staff and materials to maintain our usual schedule of elective and non-elective procedures,” Zaharko wrote in a statement. “We continue to serve our community.”
Last week, John Lanning, CEO of Three Crosses Regional Hospital, said he was burdened with potential staff shortages due to the vaccine mandate. The hospital had not answered any questions about the current vaccination and staff numbers by the time of going to press.
Michael McDevitt is the city and county government reporter for Sun News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, [email protected] or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
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