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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is threatening to pull federal funding from long-term care facilities if all employees are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Canal View – Houghton County is a fairly representative organization for the area at large, and Administrator Kim Salmi says their rate is around 65 percent.
Salmi says industry studies suggest even coercion would not be enough to get everyone on board, and that would have a significant impact on operational capabilities.
Salmi says other groups who deal with the medically vulnerable are not being required to take the same steps, and that has the appearance at least of being unfair.
In a recent Copper Country Today, Salmi shared that Canal View – Houghton County was 100 percent staffed prior to COVID-19, but that there are openings now in several departments. That is the norm for long-term care facilities nationwide.
