JACKSON, Wyo. — Last week, the U.S Supreme Court upheld the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate that applies to most healthcare workers.
According to the American Hospital Association, the court’s decision means that health care workers at facilities and at suppliers covered by the CMS regulation must be fully vaccinated or receive an approved medical or religious exemption by Feb. 28, 2022.
The vaccine mandate will affect St. John’s, but the news did not catch the hospital by surprise. “We have been working to move to full compliance with the mandate, assuming that it would one day go into effect,” Karen Connelly said.
In December, St. John’s interim CEO Dave Robertson explained to the Teton County Board of County Commissioners that St. John’s Health is at risk of losing about 10% of its employees, roughly 80 people if the mandate was enforced.
Since then, the situation has drastically improved.
“We have 98% of our employees in full compliance with the mandate, and only 16 employees that need to become compliant before the mandate goes into effect. We are working with each of those individuals with the hopes of bringing everyone into compliance,” Connelly said.
