Texas nursing homes avoid furloughs, fines over unvaccinated workers - The Texas Tribune
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Ronald Payne was on the verge of carrying out companywide furloughs this week at the nursing home chain he runs in Texas, letting go of anyone on staff who had not gotten at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, as mandated by the federal government. That might have meant well over 100 people at Southwest LTC Management Services'17 Texas nursing homes, he said. Instead, his facilities, along with most of the other 1,200 nursing homes in the state, were able to continue business as usual after a federal judge last week blocked the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers. The new rule, announced in August, required that all eligible employees of health care facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs get at least one dose by Monday, Dec.