They could face more staff shortages, and workers and facilities could feel caught between opposing state and federal policies.Just days after the Supreme Court’s decision about requiring health care workers to be vaccinated, the nation’s health care systems braced for the possibility of some resistance and more staff shortages — particularly in the states that banned mandates or had none.The ruling lands not long after the one-year anniversary of widespread vaccine distribution in a country still largely split over how best to protect Americans during a pandemic that has produced multiple surges. In upholding the Biden administration’s requirement for millions of health care workers, the decision could wedge health care workers between opposing state and federal policies.Local and regional hospitals, as well as multistate hospital chains, have wrestled with the resistance among some nurses and other staff to the Covid vaccines. Many of the larger hospital groups, including the Cleveland Clinic and HCA Healthcare, suspended their own vaccination mandates last month while they awaited the Supreme Court’s decision. And some are still assessing the conflict with murky anti-vaccine requirements imposed in Florida, Texas and some other states.But the rising infections among staffs in hospitals and nursing homes, among the unvaccinated and the vaccinated, have lent urgency to the mandates even though some hospitals and nursing homes warn of staff defections spurred by enforcing immunization.Jennifer Bridges, one of the nurses who was fired in late June from Houston Methodist Hospital for not getting the vaccine and now works for a private clinic in that city, said she doesn’t regret her decision. Ms. Bridges said she still considers the vaccine experimental.“I think your own medical bodily autonomy is very important,” she said. “I don’t think anyone should force you to do something against your will.”But many medical experts say mandates are effective in persuading more people to become vaccinated, which they say is essential to helping prevent the spread of the virus.Days after the Supreme Court’s decision requiring health care workers to be vaccinated, the nation’s health care systems braced for the possibility of some resistance and more staff shortages.Al Drago for The New York Times“At a time when we’re closing in on 850,000 Americans having died in the worst global pandemic in a century, and when infections and hospitalizations are continuing to soar, it is the obligation of our public agencies to require and enforce essential public safety measures to protect the lives and health of all American workers,” said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, president of the union National Nurses United.While 21 states and the District of Columbiahave already mandated vaccines for health care workers, six — Texas, Montana, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee and Georgia — implemented bans that prohibited some employers from requiring vaccines. Eighteen states had no requirement for health care workers, while five, including Utah, Arizona and Michigan, exempted health care organizations from bans on vaccine requirements.The Supreme Court ruling covered two dozen states that had been the subject of federal injunctions that prohibited the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from imposing a mandate. About 10 million workers at approximately 76,000 health care facilities, including hospitals and long-term care facilities, are affected by the requirement.In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis called the new federal policy “insane” at a news conference on Thursday. The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration also indicated it would not survey health care facilities about compliance of the vaccine mandate. On Friday, Mr. DeSantis reiterated his position, posting on Twitter that Florida will reject federal mandates, “which are rooted in political, not medical science.”Still, federal laws ordinarily displace, or “pre-empt,” contrary state and local ones, and in allowing the mandate for health care workers, the Supreme Court at least implicitly ruled that it overrode state laws banning vaccination requirements at facilities participating in the Medicaid and Medicare programs.The specter of potentially losing federal funding if they do not comply has already persuaded some hospital chains to require vaccinations for workers who did not qualify for a medical or religious exemption.“If we do not comply with the CMS mandate, we could compromise our ability to serve our communities and provide care to patients under the Medicare and Medicaid programs,” a spokesman for HCA said in a statement. The system, which employs about 275,000 workers, said more than 90 percent of its workers were vaccinated or had qualified for an exemption.The Cleveland Clinic said about 85 percent of its employees are vaccinated.Shannon Stapleton/ReutersFederal officials said they would work with hospitals and nursing homes to ensure they can vaccinate their workers, and regulators rarely revoke federal funds. But many argue the threat of losing funding remains. “Why risk losing Medicare, which is your life line?” asked Mark Neuberger, a lawyer with Foley & Lardner who advises health care organizations on employment issues. Other hospital groups, including the Cleveland Clinic, also said they planned to comply. The clinic said about 85 percent of its employees were vaccinated.Exactly how many hospital workers are unvaccinated is unclear, and even under the new rules, health care workers are often able to get medical or religious exemptions.But the concern remains, particularly among nursing homes and smaller rural hospitals, that the mandate will exacerbate the existing staffing shortages that have crippled much of the country during this latest surge. And many health care executives fear being caught in the cross hairs between states like Florida or Arkansas, which are adamantly opposed to the requirement, and federal officials who say “all states are expected to comply.”“Hospitals don’t want to be caught between the federal government and the state government,” said Mary Mayhew, president and chief executive of the Florida Hospital Association. “The Supreme Court ruling makes clear the authority that CMS has to implement and enforce its vaccine mandate.”Dr. Calvin Blount, who has practiced family medicine for more than 20 years in Destin, Fla., said there are still too many unanswered questions about the long-term impact of the vaccine. Now, he is facing a new federal policy that could undermine his practice. More than half of his approximate 420 patients use Medicare.The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 4The latest Covid data in the U.S.