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Legacy Health, one of the largest hospital and clinic providers in the Portland area, put nearly 800 employees in Oregon and Washington on administrative leave on Friday because they missed the September 30 deadline. to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
As a result, the hospital system said it should temporarily shut down services in some locations and consolidate services. in other facilities to maintain effective patient care. Other health systems have yet to release their numbers, but immunization rates among the various licensed health professionals vary widely across the state, show great geographic disparities, and add to existing staff shortages. .
The move is one of the first signs of the chaos that could ensue for hospitals and other healthcare facilities as the state-imposed deadline of October 18 approaches for all healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated.
After Oregon mandate, Legacy announced a policy on August 4 requiring that all physicians, nurses, staff, students, volunteers, and vendors complete their vaccination series by September 30, as people are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after. have completed a series.
Since the policy was announced, the vaccination rate for Legacy employees has increased from 85% to 94%, as an additional 1,300 employees have received their first or second vaccine, the health system said in an announcement on its website. Ryan Frank, a spokesperson for Legacy, said Legacy has around 14,000 employees.
The announcement says that a committee of experts in spiritual care, ethics, primary care and infection prevention reviewed hundreds of employee exception requests, but ultimately placed 794 people who chose not to not comply on unpaid leave as of Friday. He said some 180 of those employees have started a series and will be able to return to work after being fully immunized.
Employees who choose not to be vaccinated will be laid off on Oct. 19, although they can also return to work as soon as they are vaccinated, according to the announcement.
“We appreciate the difficulty of this decision,” said the announcement. “We are grateful to them for their service to their communities. “
On its website, the health system described a series of steps it was taking to consolidate specific medical services in various locations. He also said he plans to further reduce elective surgeries, find other efficiencies and create opportunities for contract and temporary work.
To see more data and trends, visit https://projects.oregonlive.com/coronavirus.
–Ted Sickinger; [email protected]; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger
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