116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
COVID-19 vaccinations among staff in state facilities stalls
Human Services spokesman says it’s ‘critical’ to increase vaccinations
The number of unvaccinated public employees caring for people in state-run facilities has remained largely unchanged in the past month, with 41 percent of the workers at the Boys State Training School in Eldora still refusing a COVID-19 inoculation.
The most recently released data from the Iowa Department of Human Services shows that as of last Friday, a total of 974 workers and patient-clients at state Department of Human Services facilities have been infected with COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic. Three residents have died. Ten workers and eight patient-clients have yet to recover.
The data also shows that a total of 104 of the 177 state employees at the Eldora school and residential facility for troubled youth have been fully vaccinated. That’s one fewer than the 105 reported Sept. 24, most likely the result of staff turnover and some new employees not being fully vaccinated.
Over the course of the pandemic, 113 workers and youth at the Eldora facility have tested positive for COVID-19. One worker has yet to recover.
Six of the home’s 52 youth, and 21 of the home’s 177 workers, have had COVID-19 at some point in the past 90 days, according to state data. The numbers suggest that at least one of those employee infections occurred in just the past three weeks.
The Eldora home is run by the Iowa Department of Human Services, which operates a total of six residential facilities in Iowa. Department spokesman Matt Highland has said the agency is continuing to work on the vaccination issue and that the agency knows “it is critical our team members at our facilities be vaccinated.”
Of the six state-run care facilities, the two with the highest vaccine-refusal rates have consistently been the Glenwood Resource Center for the profoundly disabled, where the vaccine-refusal rate among employees has held steady at 38 percent, and the Boys State Training School. Many of those who are refusing the vaccine are health care workers providing direct, hands-on care for individuals, and some are administrators.
Here’s a closer look at each of the state facilities as of Oct. 8:
- Cherokee Mental Health Institute: The facility has about 176 employees, three of whom have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 90 days. About 73 percent of the workers are fully vaccinated.
- Independence Mental Health Institute: The facility has about 203 employees, seven whom have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 90 days. About 85 percent of the workers are fully vaccinated.
- Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders: The facility has about 138 employees, 44 of whom have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 90 days, a decrease from the 53 reported three weeks ago. About 68 percent of the unit’s workers are now fully vaccinated.
- Glenwood Resource Center: This facility for the profoundly disabled has about 594 employees, 15 of whom have had COVID-19 in the past 90 days — one more than was reported three weeks ago. Just under 62 percent of the workers are fully vaccinated.
- Woodward Resource Center: This facility for disabled Iowans has about 504 employees, 13 of whom have had COVID-19 in the past 90 days — two more than was reported three weeks ago. Just under 76 percent of the workers are fully vaccinated.
- The Boys State Training School in Eldora: The school and residential facility for troubled youth has 177 employees. Of those, 21 have had COVID-19 in the past 90 days — one more than was reported three weeks ago. Just under 59 percent of the workers are fully vaccinated.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
The administration building at the Boys State Training School in Eldora is pictured in 2017. Of the six state-run care facilities, the two with the highest vaccine-refusal rates among staff have consistently been the Glenwood Resource Center for the profoundly disabled and the Boys State Training School. (The Gazette)
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