BOISE, Idaho — While Idaho Governor Brad Little is out of the Gem State to attend business in Colorado, Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin is acting governor. This time she didn't issue an executive order, but she did formally ask the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare if there are incentives for health systems to require their employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In a letter sent to The 208, McGeachin said she asked Health and Welfare director, Dave Jeppesen, for information on if there are any incentives for healthcare providers "to impose vaccine mandates on their employees."
On July 8, three of Idaho's major healthcare providers, St. Luke's Health System, the owner of Saint Alphonsus and Primary Health Medical Group, announced that they will require all employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The next day, McGeachin called on the Idaho legislature to reconvene for a special session, again, to address Idaho employers requiring workers to be vaccinated. Her call for a special session was quickly crushed by Idaho Republicans. The Speaker of the House, the Senate Pro Tem and Republican leadership in the Senate all shut the idea down.
In her press release Tuesday, McGeachin wondered if a proposed federal rule involving the measurement of vaccination rates among healthcare workers could be "the underlying incentive driving Idaho's healthcare providers to mandate vaccines and intrude upon the personal health choices of their employees, contractors, and vendors?"
She also questioned if the proposed federal rule would violate the current Idaho executive order by Gov. Brad Little on vaccine passports, which includes wording about the state being forbidden from providing individual vaccine status to other government agencies.
McGeachin also said, "I am reiterating my call for Idaho healthcare providers to suspend their vaccine mandates, come to the table, and have a good-faith discussion with stakeholders including their own employees and the executive and legislative branches of Idaho government."
She added that some people urged her to "take more direct action," but she wanted to give healthcare providers more time "to reconsider their mandates and accept my invitation."
However, McGeachin also laid out pre-conditions that healthcare providers had to meet before any discussions can take place.
"We can't have meaningful discourse as long as these employers are threatening to terminate employees for their personal, private medical decisions," she said.
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