NEW ORLEANS — Numbers from the Louisiana Department of Health show few outbreaks of COVID cases in nursing homes these days.
It’s a far different situation from the early days of the pandemic when nursing homes locked down as cases grew out of control.
Health experts credit the change with a large number of residents getting vaccinated, nearly 80 percent statewide.
Lagging behind that -- and causing concern for some -- is the number of employees at nursing homes who have not yet gotten the shot.
On average, 47 percent of nursing home employees are vaccinated, according to state health department data.
Dr. Fred Lopez, an infectious diseases expert with LSU Health New Orleans, said it’s especially important for people in nursing homes to be vaccinated and cared for by those who have been vaccinated.
“The most vulnerable to infection and to poor outcomes are residents of nursing homes,” he said. “We know the vaccines are very, very good. But where aren’t they as good? They’re not as good in people who are older and-or have underlying chronic medical conditions, both of which are seen frequently in residents of nursing homes.”
Legacy Nursing and Rehabilitation of Plaquemine, near Baton Rouge, has the lowest vaccination rate for staff in the state, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, at 8 percent. The 82-resident nursing home now also has nine new COVID cases among residents and one new case among the staff. A message-seeking comment was not returned.
One local nursing home is the polar opposite.
Lambeth House in Uptown New Orleans was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons at the start of the pandemic. These days, 100 percent of the residents are vaccinated, and 99 percent of the staff is as well.
CEO Scott Crabtree said about 85 percent of the staff got the shot before that number plateaued, leading to a mandate for vaccines.
“We have a moral and ethical obligation for them (residents) to have their lives back. But for our staff it’s also about protecting them and getting them a safe environment so they can go home to their family and friends and be safe,” he said.
Crabtree said the decision by some who work in healthcare to not take the vaccine is perplexing.
“We did it because enough is enough with this pandemic. Let’s get everybody’s life back. We’ve been given a tool that works.”
The nation's largest nursing home operator on Thursday told its workers this week they will have to get COVID-19 vaccinations to keep their jobs.
It’s a possible shift in an industry that has largely rejected compulsory measures for fear of triggering an employee exodus that could worsen already dangerous staffing shortages. The company, Genesis Healthcare, has 70,000 employees at nearly 400 nursing homes and senior communities.
Interviews with managers at 10 mostly smaller nursing home operations across the nation that have made vaccinations mandatory found that the threat of workers quitting en masse over the shots may be overblown.
Crabtree said he lost about 10 of his 170 employees after the vaccine mandate. He said they can reapply for their jobs if they become fully vaccinated.
The Louisiana Nursing Home Association -- a nonprofit-- said it “strongly urges all residents and staff members” to get vaccinated but has not come out in support of mandatory vaccinations..