Texas Health Resources demands vaccines; Parkland says he can’t because of governor’s order

The Texas nonprofit faith-based health resources system announced Friday that its 23,000 employees must be fully immunized by September 10, making it the third major employer in North Texas to enforce a mandatory requirement.

Meanwhile, the region’s largest public hospital, Parkland Health & Hospital System, said it agreed with decisions made by other hospital systems, but was limited by Executive Order Greg Abbott.

“The governor has issued an executive order that prohibits public entities from forcing a COVID vaccine while it is approved under an emergency use authorization. There are no exceptions for public hospitals like Parkland, ”said Mike Malaise, senior vice president of communications and external relations at Parkland. “Parkland will continue to work to understand all the implications of the Governor’s Order in Council regarding vaccine mandates for public entities in Texas and will use all methods available to us to perform universal vaccinations among our staff as soon as possible.”

Amid the surge in COVID-19 delta cases in Texas, Abbott on Thursday issued a sweeping executive order that doubles its mantra of personal accountability. The ordinance essentially bans any future mask mandates by governments or public school systems, and prohibits vaccine requirements by governments or entities receiving public funds.

Vaccination mandates implemented by Texas Health, Baylor Scott & White Health and Methodist Health System illuminate the gap between healthcare providers and some political leaders regarding the COVID-19 threat.

“As COVID-19 continues to spread in our communities, demanding vaccinations is the responsible step forward,” said Texas Health CEO Barclay Berdan. “We are taking this proactive step as our community faces an increase in cases due in large part to low vaccination rates and the burgeoning delta variant. “

The new variant is 50% more transmissible than the original COVID-19 virus and accounts for more than 80% of current COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Texas, the variant accounts for nearly 46% of cases.

“It’s no different from the mandate we have for the seasonal flu vaccine,” Berdan said in a video message.

Parkland also compared the mandate of the COVID-19 vaccine to the requirement to get the flu shot.

“We agree with the decision of the other major hospitals in Dallas to impose the vaccine on their employees as we all do for the flu every year,” said Malaise. “The vaccine requirement is meant to both protect the employee and, importantly and often overlooked, protect our patients by limiting the potential for disease to spread on campus. … The vaccine is a tool we have now that can reduce the risk to our patients and we believe every healthcare professional should be required to take it for the protection of patients.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, another major Dallas health care provider, did not respond this week to multiple requests for comment on its vaccine policy.

More than 70% of Texas Health employees are currently vaccinated, Berdan said. Texas Health, based in Arlington, has more than 27 hospitals and more than 350 facilities in North Texas.

Texas Health’s new policy differs from other local health care providers by giving workers a September 10 deadline, three weeks ahead of the October 1 deadline set by Baylor Scott & White and Methodist. All three hospital systems say they will allow exemptions for medical and religious reasons after an internal review.

Earlier this week, around 60 medical groups called on health systems to make injections compulsory. More than 70 hospital systems nationwide have implemented immunization mandates, according to an updated list maintained by Becker Hospital Examination.