CLEVELAND, Ohio — Healthcare workers who would rather quit or be fired than get the COVID-19 vaccine are a concern for the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, leaders of the two hospital systems said during a City Club Forum on Thursday.
The comments came hours after MetroHealth System announced Thursday it would require vaccinations for all employees. The deadline is Oct. 30 for employees to be fully vaccinated.
Both UH and the Clinic are considering making the COVID-19 vaccine required for employees, the CEOs said. But hospitals are already severely understaffed at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of slowing, and the loss of caregivers could endanger patients, said Clinic CEO and president Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic.
The Clinic and UH are among the largest healthcare systems in Northeast Ohio without vaccine mandates. Summa Health, Akron Children’s and the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center previously announced vaccine requirements for employees.
About 2,200 hospitals nationwide have announced some sort of mandatory vaccination policy, according to the American Hospital Association’s latest numbers gathered on Sunday. This includes the highly regarded Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
Mihaljevic and UH CEO Dr. Cliff Megerian appeared Thursday at a virtual City Club forum to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities for collaboration between the hospital systems.
Before that topic was addressed, Mihaljevic and Megerian were asked if they planned to follow MetroHealth’s lead in implementing an employee vaccination requirement.
Both said that concerns about losing staff over vaccine mandates were among the factors being weighed. At MetroHealth and Summa Health, employees who do not comply, and do not have a religious or health exemption, face disciplinary action, including termination.
Mihaljevic warned that hospitals are already understaffed and losing healthcare employees during a public health crisis would jeopardize the Clinic’s ability to provide care. “This is something that is on everybody’s mind,” Mihaljevic said.
Staff reductions have been seen in other places with vaccine mandates that included job termination for lack of compliance, Megerian said, but he did not supply specifics.
UH does not want to add to the region’s unemployment rate, Megerian said.
UH is thinking about possible consequences for those who refuse to be vaccinated; they may be asked to undergo COVID-19 testing more than once a week. “These are the things we are looking at,” Megerian said.
Strict COVID-19 measures, such as masking and hand washing, were keeping patients safe from the virus before vaccines were available, and are still doing the job, the hospital leaders said.
About 80% of Clinic caregivers have been vaccinated, and the Clinic continues to strongly encourage its caregivers to get vaccinated, Mihaljevic said. This effort has allowed the hospital system to “keep the environment of care safe,” Mihaljevic said.
“We don’t believe that right now, with the minimal amount of (UH employees) who haven’t yet decided to pursue the vaccine, that we’re putting our patients in danger,” Megerian said. “We just don’t want to put our workforce in immediate danger of joblessness.”
At UH, COVID-19 vaccines are strongly encouraged but not mandatory for employees. Unvaccinated employees must wear PPE and practice hand washing and physical distancing, the hospital system said.
About 80% of UH employees have been vaccinated, and Megerian expects that percentage to rise rapidly now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full FDA approval.
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