Acting Governor McGeachin Works to Uncover Underlying Incentives for Healthcare Providers who are imposing Vaccine Mandates on Staff
Idaho Acting Governor Janice McGeachin has sent a formal inquiry to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen, requesting additional information on what incentives may exist for Idaho healthcare providers to impose vaccine mandates on their employees. This request follows McGeachin’s discussion with Gov. Little last week, in which she asked the governor directly what factors might be driving these mandate impositions. The governor replied that it is “not a state issue.”
In a press conference held by McGeachin last week on vaccine mandates, she posed the question publicly, asking what drove the sudden move from all three of Idaho’s major healthcare providers to mandate these vaccines concurrently. “Their policies seem to be written in conjunction,” McGeachin said. “All three are not only forcing their employees to be vaccinated but also imposing such mandates on all of their contractors and vendors.”
A proposed 721-page federal rule from the Biden administration, published in the Federal Register on May 10, 2021, calls for adopting “the COVID–19 Vaccination Coverage Among Healthcare Personnel measure beginning with the FY 2023 program year,” and calls for publicly reporting the vaccination rates of healthcare providers.
Of the proposed rule McGeachin said, “Could this new federal policy be the underlying incentive driving Idaho’s healthcare providers to mandate vaccines and intrude upon the personal health choices of their employees, contractors, and vendors?”
Of additional concern is how the Biden administration would track the vaccination rates of healthcare personnel as called for in the proposed federal rule.
Idaho is operating under an Executive Order that says, “No department, agency, board, commission, or other executive branch entity or official of the State of Idaho shall … Provide information of an individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status to any person, company, or government entity for inclusion in a COVID-19 vaccine passport program.”
“I am very concerned that the Biden administration is encouraging employers who violate the self-determination of their employees,” said McGeachin. “I am also troubled that the administration is tracking or intends to track the vaccination status of Idahoans. We must take steps to protect our personal privacy and state sovereignty from such intrusion.”
Today’s actions follow McGeachin’s press conference on vaccine mandates held on July 15 as well as large anti-mandate rallies held both that day and Monday July 19, each attended by hundreds of participants including many healthcare workers.
Once again, McGeachin is calling on Saint Alphonsus Health System, St. Luke’s Health System, and Primary Health Medical Group to suspend their soon-to-be-implemented vaccine mandates and encouraging them to sit down at the table with stakeholders to discuss the matter.
“Today, as acting Governor of the State of Idaho, I am reiterating my call for Idaho healthcare providers to suspend their vaccine mandates, come to the table, and have a good-faith discussion with stakeholders including their own employees and the executive and legislative branches of Idaho government,” McGeachin said. “While some have encouraged me to take more direct action today, I am providing time for the healthcare providers to reconsider their mandates and accept my invitation. I encourage them to use this time wisely.”
“This issue isn’t going away and the people of Idaho need their leaders to act quickly on the matter,” said McGeachin. “In as little as six weeks, we could see hundreds or even thousands of Idaho healthcare workers lose their jobs at a time when we are already facing a shortage of these critical frontline workers.”
McGeachin said she is willing to work with stakeholders and assist in facilitating productive dialog. “First, the mandates need to be suspended,” she said. “We can’t have meaningful discourse as long as these employers are threatening to terminate employees for their personal, private medical decisions.”
Saint Alphonsus Health System, St. Luke’s Health System, and Primary Health Group have announced that they will mandate employees receive the COVID-19 vaccination by Sept. 1 as a circumstance of their employment. Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin held a press conference July 15 in support of health care workers who do not want to be vaccinated.
Related:
Door-To-Door Vaccine “Strike Forces”
Activist Democrat Judge Ordering Vaccines in Sentencing
Lt Gov McGeachin Signs Order Banning Mask Mandates
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