Highmark and AHN Strengthen Covid Vaccination Requirements for Employees

Officials from Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network said on Tuesday they were taking strict measures to ensure their more than 43,000 employees get vaccinated against covid-19.

Health systems have said they expect to achieve a 100% vaccination rate for all eligible employees by the end of September, unless they have a religious or medical exemption.

To date, approximately 73% of the 21,000 AHN employees have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

“Since the onset of this unprecedented health crisis in our community, AHN and Highmark Health have placed patient, caregiver and community safety at the forefront of our pandemic response strategy,” said Dr Brian Parker , AHN’s Quality and Learning Manager. .

“However, it is quite clear that the most important thing an individual can do to protect themselves and others, and to help us end this difficult pandemic, is to receive the vaccine,” said Parker. “We expect all of our employees to heed this call, and the new requirements we are putting in place are intended to help us achieve this goal.”

The new vaccine requirement comes as emerging variants, such as the delta variant, have fueled a resurgence in covid-19 cases, especially in parts of the country where vaccination rates remain low.

Last week, Allegheny joined a large number of counties in the state that are recording “substantial” rates of transmission of covid-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Pittsburgh-based UPMC – Pennsylvania’s largest non-government employer – has not issued a vaccine requirement for its more than 90,000 employees, although UPMC officials said in late July that they had not ruled out the possibility of doing so.

Excela Health – which employs around 4,300 people as Westmoreland County’s largest hospital system and employer – told the Tribune-Review in late July that it was considering requiring covid-19 vaccination for workers in health. They have not yet issued a vaccination warrant.

In addition to vaccination requirements, AHN and Highmark announced updated masking policies.

Unvaccinated AHN employees will be required to wear a face shield at all times when working in a hospital or clinical setting, in addition to a face shield, which is required for all employees and visitors to the AHN facilities. network, from Monday.

Unvaccinated Highmark Health employees will be required to wear face masks at all times when working in the organization’s facilities.

Fully vaccinated Highmark Health employees will be encouraged to wear face masks at work sites, particularly if they are in a location with high virus transmission or if they cannot adhere to social distancing measures in the workplace. their working environment. However, there is no mask warrant for fully immunized Highmark health workers.

“We intend to reach 100% of our eligible employees who have received the single dose J&J vaccine, or at least the first of two doses Pfizer and Moderna, by September 30,” Parker said. “We will be closely monitoring the response of our employees to the new requirements that we are implementing as additional incentives to get vaccinated, and additional measures are considered if necessary.”

Additional measures could potentially include mandatory weekly covid-19 testing for unvaccinated employees, he said.

The AHN and Highmark Health announcement comes after more than 50 national healthcare organizations recently issued a joint statement calling for all healthcare professionals to be vaccinated against the virus. Signatories to the letter include the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Nurses Association, the American College of Surgeons, and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Parker said he expects more healthcare providers – and other companies – to require employees to be vaccinated against the virus after the Food and Drug Administration fully approves the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. All three vaccines used in the United States are approved by the FDA under emergency use authorization only.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost infectious disease expert, said on Sunday he hoped the FDA would give the vaccine full approval within weeks.