Hospital workers meeting mandate
Most in city got vaccine as employers required
Time is almost up for all Greater Columbus health care workers to get vaccinated for COVID-19 with deadlines for mandates at each area hospital approaching or passing.
Despite fears of pushback, vaccine mandates appear to have gone well at most Ohio hospitals that have implemented them, said John Palmer, director of media and public relations for the Ohio Hospital Association.
Early on, a few small protests popped up at area hospitals, but the mandates seem to have largely been respected and data bears that out.
“There was concern there could be some animosity or just some reluctance to follow through on this, but not from what we’ve seen,” Palmer said.
Each of Columbus’ four major health systems set different fall deadlines for workers to get vaccinated for the virus. Nationwide Children’s
Hospital set the earliest COVID vaccine deadline of Oct. 1.
As of Tuesday, about 90% of Nationwide Children’s staffers were fully vaccinated for the virus, which is up from 75% when the hospital announced its mandate in early August. The hospital expects its share of vaccinated workers to increase because some staff were granted temporary exemptions, a spokeswoman told The Dispatch.
Nationwide Children’s declined to disclose whether it has fired any workers for refusing to get the vaccine or apply for an exemption.
Mount Carmel was the first health system in central Ohio to require the shots, announcing a mandate July 8. Since then, Trinity Health which is Mount Carmel’s parent organization, reported the company-wide share of vaccinated workers increased from 75% to 94%.
Managers at Mount Carmel were required to submit proof of vaccination or apply for an exemption by Aug. 24 or face termination. None had to be fired, spokeswoman Samantha Irons said via email.
All of Mount Carmel’s 12,000 employees, clinical staff and volunteers must prove their vaccination status or exemption by Nov. 30, Irons said.
“As health care professionals, it is the right thing to do to protect ourselves as well as our patients, families and communities — especially the most vulnerable,” Irons said via email. “Our colleagues are our most valuable resource, and the goal of this requirement is vaccination, not termination.”
At least two-thirds of Ohiohealth’s 35,000 associates, providers and volunteers have been vaccinated for COVID-19 so far, spokesman Colin Yoder said via email.
But Ohiohealth workers have until Wednesday to prove their vaccination status or exemption, and so the health care provider expects its share of vaccinated staff to increase.
“[O]ther associates may have received the vaccination elsewhere, so it is difficult to know the exact percentage of our team that is fully vaccinated,” Yoder said. “We are working to determine that figure as part of our vaccine requirement and should have it by early November.”
Around 85% of Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s 27,000 employees have been vaccinated for COVID-19. That’s up from 72% when the mandate was announced in August, said Elizabeth Seely, chief administrative officer for the university’s hospital division.
Employees who provide an exemption could face weekly testing and will need to continue wearing a mask at Wexner Medical Center.
By the time Wexner Medical Center’s Friday deadline rolls around, Seely said she expects worker vaccination for COVID to land somewhere between 90% and 95%. That would put the acceptance
rate of COVID shots in-line with the annual flu shots, which most hospitals also require, Seely said.
“It’s going along well. Every day we have more and more people completing the process,” Seely said. “I’m pleased with where we sit at this point.”
Overall, the vaccination rate of Columbus health system workers is far higher than that of the general public. Around 5.9 million Ohioans, or 59% of those eligible for a COVID vaccine, have completed the immunization process, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval for the two-dose regimen from Pfizer and Biontech in late August, just weeks after area hospitals announced mandates. Shots from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still awaiting full approval, though it’s expected in the coming weeks.
As hospital vaccine mandates began popping up around the country, some experts feared it could lead to a mass exodus from the health care field. That concern hasn’t come to fruition so farough, said Palmer and Seely.
While some hospital systems have begun terminating staff who refused to get vaccinated or prove an exemption, the firings don’t appear widespread.
Around 175 of 35,000 employees for North Carolina-based Novant Health were fired for failing to get vaccinated, a spokeswoman tweeted Sept. 28.
At Albany Medical Center in New York, around 200 of 11,000 employees could be fired if they don’t get the jab soon. Fewer than 300 out of 16,000 workers could be terminated at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, if they don’t get vaccinated now that a Sept. 27 deadline has passed, The New York Times reported.
For the most part, Seely said the high vaccine acceptance isn’t a surprise. Frontline health care workers have been through the ringer the last 19 months and want to do anything they can to move on from COVID-19, she said.
“Our employees want to keep our patients safe and themselves safe,” Seely said. “It’s important for everyone who can to get vaccinated. We want to see an end to this pandemic.” mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby