The Ochiltree County Hospital District Board of Directors debated vaccine mandates at their meeting on Monday evening at the Ochiltree General Hospital conference center.
The main topic under discussion at the meeting was a vaccine mandate from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The mandate would require all medical staff and contractors at OGH to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
The board members were leery of the mandate, as there are about 40 hospital employees who have not been vaccinated and do not want to be vaccinated. The mandate would require eligible workers to have received their first dose of a vaccine by Dec. 6. Employees who are not vaccinated could apply for medical or religious exemptions to avoid the vaccine.
Ten states have filed injunctions against the mandate, but if not upheld by the courts, the mandate would go into effect.
However, the board members acknowledged that they had little choice but to approve the mandate. If the board chose not to approve it, the hospital would lose its federal funding, its certification, and its license, which would lead to the hospital’s closure.
In other business, the board members were informed that the hospital’s computer servers would need to be replaced soon. The current servers are almost a decade old and out-of-date, and would cost about $20,000 to replace. The board voted to approve the server proposal.
The board also approved the purchase of a Stryker surgery air filtration system and a Steris surgery sterilizer to be used in the new surgery suite currently being constructed at OGH.
The board approved an $87,000 payment to Wiley Hicks, Jr. Inc. construction company.
The board members also briefly discussed parking lot maintenance and construction that was scheduled to begin this week, as well as other construction projects.