Many facilities are limiting the number of patients they see because they lack staff. Rick Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association, said the new CMS policy may end up “exacerbating the severe workforce shortage problems that currently exist.” Forcing the resignation of unvaccinated healthcare workers could lead to the closing of hospitals and nursing homes, especially in rural areas where even losing a few staff could be catastrophic to operations.

The consequences could lead to life-or-death issues for patients across the country. A hospital in Long Beach, N.Y., shut down its emergency room due to a lack of vaccinated nurses. A hospital in Lewiston, Maine, closed its neo-natal intensive-care unit—one of only five in the state—in advance of the governor’s Oct. 31 deadline for all healthcare workers to be vaccinated.

The CMS mandate could generate a downward spiral: Already-exhausted healthcare workers would have to work longer hours to compensate for the termination of unvaccinated colleagues, leading to more burnout and retirements. This could lead to delays in care, or the postponement of needed healthcare services. If patients put off needed surgeries or preventive services like mammograms that can lead to more diagnoses of advanced diseases, which are more complicated and expensive to treat. Amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases in some states and warnings of a potential fourth wave, we need healthcare workers on the frontlines, not the unemployment lines.