Situation Report | February 22, 2021
According to the results of a provider survey, about 75 percent of home care and hospice staff statewide remain unvaccinated at a time of shortages and ongoing access concerns, as HCA and partners work with vaccine planners on dedicated efforts for home care.
HCA thanks members for completing this survey last week, jointly conducted by HCA, the New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP), and LeadingAge New York.
While the survey accounted for approximately 64,000 employees (out of 400,000 that are estimated to be employed in home care), the rate of response is believed to be representative. It provides an important data set for HCA’s ongoing discussions with regional vaccination hubs on prioritization of home care. The data also found that upstate vaccination rates were considerably higher than downstate.
This survey effort again raises a strong need for access to state-level Health Emergency Response Survey Data (HERDS) for a fuller picture and contextualization of the data, as HCA has requested from state officials since the beginning of the pandemic.
As noted elsewhere in this week’s Situation Report, the state Department of Health is now beginning to ask vaccination questions in its home care provider HERDS surveys. This development makes the release of state-level data all the more important for HCA and partner associations in our efforts to overcome barriers to vaccination in home care.
HCA continues to hold high-level discussions with the Governor’s office, the regional vaccination hubs and New York City officials on vaccine access and will report back on any developments. We thank you for completing our survey which will go a long way in making the case in each of these venues.