President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug 18, 2021, on the COVID-19 response and vaccination program. U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to offer COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug 18, 2021, on the COVID-19 response and vaccination program. U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to offer COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

New Biden mandate will require Heritage Place employees to get vaccinated

The mandate could take effect as soon as next month.

Staff members at Heritage Place nursing facility in Soldotna will now be required to take the COVID-19 vaccine, following a Wednesday announcement by President Joe Biden.

In a press conference at the White House, Biden said nursing home employees working at Medicare- and Medicaid-funded facilities will be required to be vaccinated or the facility will lose funding. More than 130,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19 across the country since the beginning of the pandemic, he said.

“Today I’m announcing a new step,” Biden said. “If you work in a nursing home and serve people on Medicare or Medicaid, you will also be required to get vaccinated.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The president said he’s taking steps on vaccination requirements where he can in order to boost the nation’s fight against the virus.

More than 200 million Americans have now received at least one dose of the vaccines, according to the White House, but about 80 million Americans are eligible but haven’t yet been vaccinated, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Bruce Richards, the external affairs director of Heritage Place and Central Peninsula Hospital, said he’s doing preliminary research to determine the next steps, but it’s clear the nursing facility employees will have to get the jab.

“We’ll have to comply or not get paid,” Richards said, noting that about 94% of Heritage Place’s funding comes from Medicare and Medicaid.

According to the Associated Press, the mandate could take effect as soon as next month.

Richards said not complying with the Biden administration’s new policy and thus losing Medicare and Medicaid funding would mean the end of the nursing facility altogether.

“If that were the case we’d have to close,” he said. “That’s just not an option.”

Richards said the vaccine will now be considered a condition of participation of Medicare and Medicaid funding, which will translate to a condition of employment for Heritage Place employees.

He acknowledged the nursing facility might end up losing staff over the new mandate.

This isn’t the first federal COVID vaccine mandate imposed by the Biden administration. The president has already said federal employees and contractors, medical staff at Veterans Affairs hospitals and some active duty military personnel will have to get the shots or face onerous requirements.

“With this announcement I’m using the power of the federal government as a payer of health care costs to ensure we reduce those risks to our most vulnerable seniors,” Biden said.

More in News

Aspen Creek Senior Living residents, dressed as the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam, roll down the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, during the Fourth of July Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai to celebrate Independence Day with annual parade

The Kenai Fourth of July parade is set to start at 11 a.m. on Trading Bay Road.

The Soldotna Field House in Soldotna, Alaska, is showcased to the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna previews field house as opening nears

Soldotna’s Parks and Recreation Department previewed the facility to the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

The Soldotna Field House in Soldotna, Alaska, is showcased to the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Hospital to sponsor free walks for seniors at field house

Through June 2027, seniors aged 65 and older will be able to use the field house walking track from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.

A sign warns of beaver traps in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai works to abate flooding caused by beaver dams

Dams have caused flooding near Redoubt Avenue and Sycamore Street.

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna approves 2026 and 2027 budget with flat sales and property tax

The city expects to generate more than $18 million in operating revenues while spending nearly $20 million.

A salmon is carried from the mouth of the Kasilof River in Kasilof, Alaska, early in the morning of the first day of the Kasilof River personal use sockeye salmon dipnet fishery on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kasilof dipnetting opens

Dipnetting will be allowed at all times until Aug. 7.

A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Bag limit for Kasilof sockeye doubled

Sport fishers can harvest six sockeye per day and have 12 in possession starting Wednesday.

The Swan Lake Fire can be seen from above on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Wildland Fire Information)
Burn permits suspended across southern Alaska

The suspension applies to the Kenai-Kodiak, Mat-Su and Copper River fire prevention areas.

Rep. Bill Elam speaks during a legislative update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna chambers of commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Nothing prepares you’

Rep. Bill Elam reports back on his freshman session in the Alaska House of Representatives.

Most Read