[ad_1]
The Sioux Falls, SD-based health system is the only one in the region to impose such a requirement, according to a survey of health systems such as Mayo Clinic and Essentia Health by Forum News Service.
Sanford Health chief medical officer Dr Jeremy Cauwels said on Thursday the healthcare system is moving forward with the mandate due to the growing number of cases of the most contagious and virulent delta variants in the clinical footprint of Sanford, which spans the Dakotas and Minnesota, and because health care organizations have endorsed the move.
Sanford executives decided to give employees more than three months to give vaccine hesitants time to do their research, they said. Much like the health system’s influenza vaccine mandate for employees, medical and religious exemptions will be available. Employees vaccinated in the past 12 months have already fulfilled the mandate.
But for everyone else at Sanford Health, the message is clear: If you want to keep your job, get vaccinated before November 1. And all new hires as of Sept. 1 must get the vaccine as part of their hiring process, according to an email from staff obtained by Forum News Service.
“It will be a condition of employment at Sanford Health,” Cauwels told reporters on a media call Thursday afternoon. “If you don’t have a religious or other exemption, we’ll require it to work in Sanford.”
Sanford Health is a large regional health system with large medical centers in Sioux Falls, Fargo and Bemidji, Minnesota, and over 200 clinics. The healthcare system includes more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care centers in 26 states and 10 countries. Employees of the Good Samaritan Society are included in the mandate.
More than 90% of Sanford Health clinicians and 70% of nurses have already been vaccinated, according to the health system.
Cauwels said health system leaders decided there was no need to wait for full approval of a COVID-19 vaccine by the Food and Drug Administration (the vaccines were approved under ‘stringent emergency use authorization), and the time had come to tackle a rising tide of delta variant cases.
Federal health officials said earlier this week that more than 80% of all new cases of COVID-19 were a delta variant.
“Almost all new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, and overwhelming data confirms that vaccines are not only safe, but the best and most reliable way to prevent transmission of the virus. Cauwels said Thursday. press release on the mandate.
No mandate in other health systems
Sanford Health appears to be the only major healthcare system in the region with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate planned for its employees.
Cauwels said Sanford Health contacted other health systems in the region to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for employees, but ultimately decided to do it alone.
“What we found was that a lot of these health systems were not in the same position as us from a preparedness standpoint, whether it was because of links to the church or simply because of by personal preference, they weren’t in the same place we were in. Be prepared to vaccinate people, ”Cauwels said.
The Forum News Service consulted with the Mayo Clinic, Essentia Health, Trinity Health, Altru Health System, CHI St. Alexius and Avera Health on Thursday to ask questions about the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
None of the health systems that responded to us require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. (We have not heard from CHI St. Alexius before the deadline). But they said they viewed with concern the increase in virus cases, and some said an employee vaccination mandate could be on the horizon.
Essentia Health, with facilities throughout Minnesota and North Dakota, does not currently require employee vaccination against COVID-19. Chief Medical Officer Dr Peter Henry said in a statement that it was “extremely important that everyone who can receive the vaccine does so, especially healthcare workers whose duty it is to protect vulnerable people.” .
RELATED: Essentia and Allina Health Networks Vary in Approach to Employee COVID-19 Vaccinations
Avera Health in Sioux Falls said it is “assessing the subject of the vaccine requirement for employees,” and several other regional health systems have taken a similar approach.
“We have not yet decided to require vaccination as a condition of employment,” said Randy Schwan, vice president of Trinity Health. “We are actively monitoring the vaccination rate in the region and viral activity throughout the region and are trying to make a vaccine available to anyone who wants to protect themselves and those around them by getting vaccinated. “
But some have taken a slightly more cautious line, emphasizing their continued work to encourage employee vaccinations.
“Mayo Clinic executives are closely monitoring the increase in COVID-19 cases and the impact of the delta and other emerging variants,” the Rochester, Minnesota, health system said in a statement sent. by e-mail. “We are collecting feedback on ways to increase employee participation in immunization.”
Forum News Service journalists Jeremy Turley and Matthew Guerry contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link