The Iowa Health Care Association (IHCA) says they are assessing the impact to Iowa’s 431 nursing homes following reports on Wednesday that the Biden Administration may be issuing a directive for mandatory COVID vaccinations of all U.S. nursing home staff. This will apply to nursing homes only, not other health care settings. President and CEO of the IHCA, Brent Willett, says the directive is carried out through the federal Rules of Participation which governs the more than 14,000 nursing homes in the nation. The federal rules will supersede any state laws, meaning Iowa nursing homes will be forced to comply if the directive is implemented. Willett says the IHCA will be assessing the impacts of such a directive on the “already strained long-term care workforce.” Willet goes on to state that a singling out of nursing homes is a counterproductive move and would further exacerbate crisis-level workforce shortages in long-term care.
