Less than 50% of staff at some Peoria nursing homes vaccinated. How it's being addressed

Sep. 1—PEORIA — With federal and state policies in place to require nursing home employees to be vaccinated, several facilities in the Peoria area have a long way to go.

That's according to Illinois Department of Public Health data showing at least 12 sites here have fewer than half of their employees vaccinated against the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness.

The number goes as low as 7.3% of staff who are vaccinated at River Crossing of Peoria at 1500 W. Northmoor Road, where administrators did not respond to a phone message or email seeking comment. At Washington Senior Living, 1201 Newcastle Road, 12.4% of staff are listed as vaccinated, and an official there declined to comment when reached by the Journal Star.

The state vaccination data relies on information reported by the facilities themselves to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state website, which updates each Friday, reflects data that was collected by the CDC on Aug. 15.

Late last month, President Joe Biden stated that nursing homes must vaccinate their employees or risk losing federal funding. And last week, Gov. JB Pritzker said all public and private nursing home employees must get vaccinated or be subject to regular COVID tests.

Situations at some of the Peoria-area facilities are better than portrayed on the state website, officials there say, noting the lag in data. The federal information being used is roughly two weeks old when it's posted by the state.

Gary Weintraub, a spokesman for Sharon Health Care, which runs three facilities in Peoria, said the sites here all have more than 50% of the staff vaccinated, fully or partially.

For instance, he said, Sharon Health Care Pines at 3614 N. Rochelle Lane is listed by the state as having 41.2% of workers vaccinated. But Weintraub said the number is now 50.7% and climbing.

"The goal is to have everyone vaccinated," he said. "We have offered financial incentives and we have gotten commitments from more employees to get vaccines, which will add to our number. We are trying everything to get people vaccinated."

Another local facility, Lutheran Hillside Village, 6901 N. Galena Road, was listed at 50.5%, but Maryanne Wallace, the facility's director of marketing, said that number is out of date.

"Currently, 85% of the staff at LHV have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine," she said.

Lutheran Senior Services, which runs the Galena Road facility, is requiring all staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 1.

Peoria-based Petersen Health Care operates two local facilities that showed low vaccination rates: Cornerstone Rehabilitation & Health Care at 5533 N. Galena Road in Peoria Heights and El Paso Health Care Center at 850 E. Second St. Cornerstone's employee vaccination rate was listed Friday at 37.6%, while El Paso Health Care Center was at 24.4%.

Greg Wilson, a spokesman for that company, said Petersen has held vaccination clinics at its facilities and has worked "diligently to educate our staff, families and residents on the benefits of getting vaccinated."

"... We strongly encourage all long-term care staff, residents and members of the community to get vaccinated as soon as possible," he said. "The vaccines are safe and effective, and the best tool we have to bring an end to this pandemic."

Wilson said Petersen was generally supportive of the president's plan to require vaccines but wanted to know more details.

"We are strong advocates for everyone getting vaccinated, but mandating only long-term care employees will drive those strongly opposed to the vaccination out of our industry," he said. "It is also important to note that many of the vaccine-hesitant employees were previously infected with COVID-19. A good percentage of the 35-40% of unvaccinated long-term care employees have natural immunity due to previous infection."

The rules regarding Biden's plan weren't due out until late September, and Wilson said he hopes the White House will broaden the reach of the mandate to include all health-care workers.

Accolade Healthcare purchased both Generations of Peoria and Generations at Riverview in East Peoria over the summer. Charles Turpin, who is the administrator of the East Peoria facility, said that in the wake of Pritzker's mandate, Accolade is moving to require all employees to have their first injections done by Sept. 5.

Currently, the Accolade facility in Peoria is listed at 42.8% vaccinated, while the East Peoria one is listed at 42.2% on the IDPH website.

Other facilities within the Peoria area that are listed as having less than half their employees vaccinated have been close-lipped about what they're doing to raise those rates.

None of the remaining homes responded to calls or emails seeking comment. They are:

Hallmark Healthcare of Pekin, 2501 Allentown Road: 20.2% of staff vaccinated.

River Crossing of East Peoria, 900 Centennial Drive: 24.4% of staff vaccinated.

Apostolic Christian Home of Roanoke, 1102 W. Randolph St.: 27.4% of staff vaccinated.

Aperion Care in Peoria Heights, 1629 E. Gardner Lane: 30.6% of staff vaccinated.

Pekin Manor, 1520 El Camino Drive: 42.8% of staff vaccinated.

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