The vaccine mandates are presenting an imminent threat to care at our S.D. hospitals which are already facing serious staffing shortages. In August, Monument reported a serious and growing shortage of nurses. The aging workforce and an insufficient number of nursing graduates mean that our health systems simply can't afford to lose staff. Last week, Monument decided to join Sanford & Avera in mandating employees receive Covid injections by Dec. 1 or lose their jobs.
What we are seeing in the rest of the country bodes ill for S.D. hospital care: when hospitals mandate, they lose a significant percentage of their employees, patient care is jeopardized, units shut down, and hospitals are forced to close. The risk is highest for patients who rely on rural hospitals.
If you care about the health of our S.D. hospitals, please call or email our state legislators who have healthcare careers to let them know your concern for the health of our hospitals:
Rep. Breitling, healthcare admin. bryan.breitling@sdlegislature.gov, 605-853-3040
Sen. Curd, orthopedic surgeon, blake.curd@sdlegislature.gov, 605-331-5890
Rep. Davis, CRNA, Sydney.Davis@sdlegislature.gov, 605-770-7029
Rep. Healy, analyst at Sanford, Erin.Healy@sdlegislature.gov, 605-212-9597
Sen. Hunhoff, RN, jean.hunhoff@sdlegislature.gov, 605-665-1463
Rep. Miskimins, retired dentist, Paul.Miskimins@sdlegislature.gov, 605-996-7222
Rep. Rehfeldt, CRNA, Taylor.Rehfeldt@sdlegislature.gov, 605-391-4378
Sen. Tobin, nurse practitioner, erin.tobin@sdlegislature.gov
And our hospitals' human resources departments who will be tasked with terminating the employees who don't comply with their mandates:
Monument Health Human Resources: (605) 755-5510
Avera Health Human Resources: 605-322-4700
Sanford Health Human Resources: (877) 243-1372