ABOUT 25% OF HOSPITAL WORKERS HERE NOT VACCINATED
‘It’s like we’re not leading by example,’ nurse says
About one in every four employees at two of Southern Nevada’s largest hospital providers aren’t fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, even though medical care workers had the first crack at the vaccine at the end of last year and could have been fully inoculated for months.
A spokesman for University Medical Center, which is one of the largest public hospitals in the country, said this month that 70% to 75% of its approximately 3,800 employees have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The vaccine is not required to work at the county-run health care system.
“UMC’S leadership team considered every available option when developing the hospital’s employee vaccination policy,” hospital representative Scott Kerbs said. “While COVID-19 vaccinations are not currently mandatory, UMC has achieved a high vaccination rate among employees, and we continue to provide on-site vaccinations for our team members.”
The Dignity hospital chain, which operates about a half-dozen hospitals valleywide, also has a voluntary vaccination policy and has a similar rate slightly above 70%, a company spokesman said. A representative from HCA, which operates Sunrise, Mountainview and Southern Hills hospitals, didn’t respond to inquiries.
Top officials from UMC and Dignity weren’t immediately available to comment further.
Kerbs didn’t have data breaking down vaccine rates by employee type. However, one UMC nurse, who did not want to give her name citing media hospital policy, estimated that about 90% of the people in her unit were vaccinated. The rest, she said, were taking a wait-and-see position toward getting the vaccine.
She said she had no adverse reactions, and no regrets, after being in the first wave to get the shot in December.
The nurse acknowledged that a vaccination rate in the low- to mid-70s seems low for a medical setting — “it’s like we’re not leading by example” — but she said that, on principle, she supported people’s right to choose if they wanted the vaccine.
Everyone in UMC patient care areas wears masks, regardless of their vaccine status.
“I think people should be able to decide if they want to get vaccinated or not and if not, they should continue using the precautions,” she said. “The mask, the distancing.”
With a vaccine-optional policy, the local hospitals won’t face a legal controversy like the one in Texas. There, more than 117 employees of the private Houston Methodist system filed suit in federal court challenging the hospital chain’s requirement that all employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be fired. The suit said the hospital “requires the employee to subject themselves to medical experimentation as a prerequisite to feeding their families” because the vaccine has not received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Still, the vaccine went through rigorous clinical trials, was authorized for emergency use, and 315 million doses have been given in the United States.
A judge dismissed the complaint, saying the hospital system is in the business of saving lives, that claims made in the lawsuit that the vaccines are experimental and dangerous are false, and that employees who don’t like the vaccine requirement can find work elsewhere. More than 150 employees who refused
to get the COVID-19 vaccine have now been fired or resigned.
Kerbs said UMC continues to encourage a safe and healthy workplace.
“To promote the safest possible clinical environment for our patients and staff, we provide on-campus testing for symptomatic employees,” he noted. “Earlier this year, we offered $200 to every full-time employee who received the vaccine to thank them for prioritizing their health and helping us build a healthier future for our community.”
Of the 11,387 health care workers who responded to a national survey conducted by the University of Michigan, 954 said they wouldn’t be getting the vaccine now, according to a report by Modern Healthcare. A total of 369 medical industry workers, or 3.2%, indicated they would never get the vaccine.
Reasons given by respondents for not receiving the vaccine include: how fast it was developed, the disbelief that it would prevent the COVID-19 infection, and concerns about side effects.
“When a health care worker declines a COVID-19 vaccine, it affects the herd immunity of the health care workforce and potentially the safety of patients and communities that workforce serves,” Michelle Moniz, a physician with the University of Michigan
School of Public Health, told Modern Healthcare. “And health care workers are a trusted voice that influences others, so vaccine hesitancy in this group could undermine efforts to widely vaccinate populations and achieve herd immunity.”
Few doctors are likely part of the group of unvaccinated staffers, as the American Medical Association reported last week that 96% of practicing physicians in the United States are fully vaccinated.
“Physicians and clinicians are uniquely positioned to listen to and validate patient concerns, and one of the most powerful anecdotes a physician can offer is that they themselves have been vaccinated,” Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the association, said in a news release.
Nevada ranks in the middle of the pack in vaccine uptake. According to NV Health Response, about 51% of residents 12 and older have had at least one shot; about 43% are fully vaccinated. Nationally, about 62% of people 12 and older have had at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nevada officials are hoping to entice more residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with prizes ranging from fishing licenses to college scholarships to $1 million in cash. Nearly 2,000 vaccinated winners will get a share of raffle prizes worth a total of $5 million during the “Vax Nevada Days” promotion, which is similar to campaigns in Ohio, Oregon, Maryland and New York.
In addition to treating COVID-19 patients, UMC has been a major player in the community response to the disease.
For several months it partnered with Wynn Resorts to offer a vaccination clinic at the Encore on the Strip. It still gives vaccines at its Advanced Center for Health, a few blocks from the hospital. UMC also was at the forefront of testing during the pandemic’s early days and into its winter peak.
First lady Jill Biden stopped by UMC on National Nurses Day last month to thank them and other hospital workers for their pandemic efforts. Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams visited the hospital last fall and praised the region on its progress against the virus.
And in December, the state’s first dosage of the vaccine was given during a ceremony to a nurse from UMC’S intensive care unit.