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SPRINGFIELD – Some 145 Baystate Health employees face layoffs after failing to comply with a company mandate to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before today’s deadline.
The Springfield-based health care provider said on Friday that 99%, or 12,593, of its roughly 13,000 employees were in compliance. Baystate Health reported that 419 workers were granted medical or religious exemptions.
A week ago, Baystate Health said 96% of its employees were vaccinated and a few hundred workers were expected to be made redundant.
The 145 currently non-compliant employees were placed on unpaid leave of absence for 14 days before being made redundant if not vaccinated.
In explaining his decision to apply for a warrant, Dr Mark A. Keroack, President and CEO of Baystate Health, said vaccines are a critical and necessary path for public health.
“The best way to ensure the safety of our care environment for patients and caregivers during the current pandemic is the highly effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine,” Keroack said in a statement. “This is why we have decided to make vaccination a condition of employment.
He added, “I had to weigh the pain of workers losing their jobs against my personal responsibility to provide the safest environment for patients, which is best assured by a remarkably safe and effective vaccine. I want to thank our employees who have proactively taken this important step to ensure their personal health, the health of their colleagues, and the safety of patients and the community.
Many healthcare systems across the country have adopted similar policies, with varying timelines for compliance or for obtaining a medical or religious exemption. Many find that the majority of workers comply as employers strive to address their concerns.
Michigan-based Trinity Health, whose regional partners include Mercy Medical Center, announced in early July that it would require its 117,000 employees in 22 states to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be laid off. He said this week that the percentage of his staff vaccinated has risen from 75% to 94%.
A federal vaccine mandate for hospital and nursing home staff is on the horizon, along with other federal rules being developed around vaccination and COVID testing. Many cities and states have announced mandatory COVID vaccination for healthcare workers.
Some companies have also placed such a requirement on their staff, as have some universities on their students and staff.
Keroack announced that Baystate Health had adopted a policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination in a letter to employees in late July, as cases of COVID-19, driven by the hyper-contagious delta variant, increased across the country.
At that time, Keroack said 75% of Baystate Health staff were fully vaccinated.
It was then announced that employees who failed to meet the deadline would be placed on unpaid leave of absence for 14 days, after which they would be fired but would have the option to resign and reserve their ability to be rehired once vaccinated.
The vaccination policy also applies to volunteers, on-site vendors and per diem staff. Baystate Health operates the Baystate Medical Center as well as community hospitals in Westfield, Greenfield and Palmer and an ambulatory care center in Ware.
At the end of August, 402 employees unsuccessfully asked Keroack to reconsider the policy. He said at the time that the decision “to force the vaccine on all Baystate Health employees is based on the science we looked at, as well as information from professional medical companies.”
The courts have upheld the right of hospitals and others to impose mandatory vaccination policies, for which the country has a long history.
Last week, a superior court judge rejected an offer by the state police union to block the Oct. 17 implementation of Governor Charlie Baker’s Aug. 19 vaccination mandate for all employees of the State under its authority.
In her decision, Judge Jackie Cowan wrote that “to suspend the time limit for union members to obtain a full vaccination would be contrary to the public interest which the defendants are charged to protect and would do more harm to the Commonwealth than is caused to the union by the denial of such relief.
Mercy Medical Center employees had until September 21 to get vaccinated, and Mercy and Trinity Health Of New England said last week that more than 95% of employees submitted their required vaccination documents by the deadline and that the numbers continue to rise.
Mass General Brigham has given his employees until October 15 to be vaccinated. This includes staff at Cooley Dickinson Health Care in Northampton, where more than 89% of employees are vaccinated. Mass General officials said on Friday that 93% of its 80,000 employees have documented their vaccinations. He also said employees must have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by October 15 and those who have only received a single dose of Moderna or Pfizer by that date will need to show proof. of a second scheduled dose no. no later than November 15.
Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center, said last week he was waiting for more advice on federal requirements for hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid. He said 81% or 82% of his employees are vaccinated.
According to the state’s Department of Public Health, there have been 757,849 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state and 18,240 deaths.
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