Healthcare Workers Get Federal Vaccine Deadline

The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.

Unvaccinated employees of nursing homes, hospitals and other health care organizations face a Dec. 5 deadline to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or lose their jobs.

All health care workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, the federal mandate says.

The Biden administration's emergency regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services "protects those fighting this virus on the front lines while also delivering assurances to individuals and their families that they will be protected when seeking care," the CMS announcement said.

The order was issued last week, requiring employers to adopt policies to enforce the requirement or risk losing federal Medicare and Medicaid funds.

Responding to the new mandate, chief medical officers from major western Pennsylvania hospitals issued a statement supporting vaccines and saying the requirements will spur more to get the shots.

"Collectively, we and our organizations will fully comply with this new CMS rule," the Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Consortium of CMOs statement said.

"We know the vaccines are safe and effective, and we know that widespread vaccination is one key step in controlling this pandemic," the statement continued. "Our health-care teams serve all in need, and a broader vaccination uptake will help them and those they care for by limiting the harm from this illness. We want all in our communities to be safer and healthier."

Signatures on the statement included those of Conemaugh CMO Dr. Elizabeth Dunmore, Indiana Regional Medical CMO Dr. Richard K. Neff, UPMC CMO Dr. Donald M. Yealy and Allegheny Health Network CMO Dr. Donald M. Whiting.

Dr. David Csikos, CMO at Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber, was not included in the consortium's statement, but said its message applies to Windber as well.

"(Windber) has adopted the required mandate, and we have informed our employees of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' mandate," Csikos said. "Thus far, only a few employees have voiced their opposition. The majority of our employees are fully vaccinated.

"At this time, I honestly don't know how many of our unvaccinated employees will refuse to comply with the mandate."

UPMC Somerset spokeswoman Sarah Deist provided this statement:

"UPMC leaders are carefully reviewing the federal guidelines and thoughtfully planning the approach that will best serve our employees, patients, and members. We follow all governmental requirements and will continue our vaccine advocacy and outreach efforts and make vaccines easily and readily available for all.

"Vaccination saves lives. At UPMC, we believe anyone who can receive the COVID-19 vaccine should do so."

Conemaugh Health System also issued a statement:

"We agree that the vaccine is our best defense against this virus and have been strongly encouraging our staff to get vaccinated. Right now, we are working to fully understand the details of this development and the impact it will have for employees and providers at our facility.

"We are committed to fulfilling all of our regulatory and compliance obligations."

The Pennsylvania Department of Health's long-term facilities report shows Arbutus Park Manor in Richland has one of the area's highest employee vaccination rates at 77.3% fully vaccinated. Arbutus is the county's only home with 100% of residents fully vaccinated.

Administrator Rick Wilson said he expects more employees to get the vaccine and that workers understand it is a federal mandate for all who continue to work in health care.

"The ones that aren't vaccinated, they have their reasons and we understand that," Wilson said. "They know that it's out of our hands now."

The employee vaccination rate is 41.9% at Quality Life Services — Westmont. Mary Susan Yurek, chief quality officer, said the organization has stepped up educational efforts for its workers ahead of the deadline.

"We are not in favor of people being mandated to do it," Yurek said, noting that part of the education is letting staff know how to apply for religious or medical exemptions under the new order.

"We are reviewing those on a case-by-case basis," Yurek said.

Charity Ferko, of Central City, faces the loss of her job at a Johnstown nursing home.

"I understand that COVID is very serious," Ferko said in an email. "I have had it myself as well as many family members. That being said, my body is my own and the government nor my employer should ever have the right to tell me what to inject into my body... It was perfectly acceptable for me to work directly with positive COVID patients through the entire pandemic... I should not have to take an injection to give someone else a false sense of security."

Meanwhile, the state's COVID-19 rates remain elevated, with 5,293 additional positives and 73 deaths in Thursday's update. It brings the state totals to 1,613,315 cases and 32,261 deaths attributed to COVID-19.