BETHESDA, Md. — Only seven of Maryland's 230 nursing homes have managed to vaccinate all of their staff, while some facilities across the state are still reporting under 50% vaccination rates among employees, according to data now being released by the Maryland Department of Health.
The facilities with the worst performance are in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore, where vaccination rates among the general public are also lagging behind state averages, the health department says.
Overall, 76.6% of all Maryland nursing home workers are now fully vaccinated and 83.7% of nursing home residents are fully vaccinated, the most recent state report says.
One of the facilities that reached 100% staff vaccination is Maplewood Park Place on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, a continuing care community that includes a large population of independently living residents, as well as those who are in nursing care.
DATA: You can search the vaccination rates among staff and residents of all Maryland nursing homes here.
George Cohen, a resident who serves as president of the resident's board, credits Sunrise Senior Living for instituting a mandatory vaccination policy for employees beginning in April. Sunrise is contracted to operate Maplewood Park Place by the community's board.
Three employees refused vaccination by an Aug. 1 deadline and were put on leave, according to Cohen.
“People were notified that if you wanted to keep your job, starting August 1, you had to be vaccinated," Cohen said. "Both of our boards, the Service Board, and the Co-Op board said, 'We are sorry. We are not going to let people in here and endanger this community unless you've been vaccinated.' And those three people have been put on what Sunrise calls unpaid leave of absence. So we do not have anyone here who is not fully vaccinated.”
Health Facilities Association of Maryland President Joe DeMattos said it's time for the state to consider a mandatory nursing home employee vaccination policy statewide.
“The truth is is that we're at a time in fighting this pandemic where all healthcare settings should be looking at staff vaccination mandates,” DeMattos said.
DeMattos said Maryland's overall rate of nursing home employee vaccinations (76.6%) was a significant accomplishment, but that more work needs to be done.
Last week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered all state employees working in "congregate settings" such as prisons and veteran's homes to be fully vaccinated.
Hogan called on all nursing home operators to follow the state's lead, but he did not issue an order that would require operators to comply.