Lesley Ogden, Sarah Horn and Debbie Robinson
Ogden is an emergency medicine physician and chief executive officer at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital and Pacific Communities Hospital. Horn is the chief nursing officer for Salem Health. Robinson is the chief nursing officer for St. Charles Bend.
Stopping COVID-19 means vaccinating as many people as possible as quickly as possible. But in Oregon, there are barriers to reaching that goal that defy logic – like the one banning hospitals and other health care providers from requiring that their staffs be vaccinated.
Earlier this week, the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association and more than 50 health care groups released a statement in support of requiring health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In doing so, they joined a growing list of public health experts in the United States and around the globe as the emergence of the highly infectious delta variant marks a new phase in the pandemic.
Yet, as the number of places requiring COVID-19 vaccination for health care workers continues to increase, here in Oregon, we are barred from even considering the policy. Oregon law dating back to 1989 prohibits requiring health care workers to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. Oregon is the only state in the nation with such a prohibition, and health care is the only industry in Oregon unable to ensure a fully vaccinated workforce.
That’s right. Virtually any employer in Oregon can require employees to be vaccinated, but hospitals are prohibited from doing so.
Oregon’s hospitals are dedicated to protecting the health of our patients, visitors and workers. The best available science shows that vaccines are safe, limit the spread of COVID-19, and help prevent hospitalizations and deaths. When health care workers are vaccinated, everyone in a hospital is safer. It’s well past time for state leaders to lead discussions of this outdated policy and give community hospitals additional tools to respond to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospitals care for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. In many cases, our patients are more susceptible to infection because they are immunocompromised. Other patients may not be able to receive the vaccine due to a preexisting medical condition. Children in our hospitals are also vulnerable because the COVID-19 vaccine is not yet approved for anyone under 12. It is our responsibility to provide the safest care environment possible.
In addition to patient safety, health care workers can become sick and expose their families and community to COVID-19. Oregon hospitals are struggling under staffing shortages as emergency rooms become jammed with patients, and there are worries a strong fall flu season will further strain staffing resources. Hospitals can’t afford to lose vital health care staff due to COVID-19. Vaccination is an important tool to keep more health care workers on the job. This conversation becomes more important by the day, as the delta variant continues its march across our state.
We are not advocating for a statewide requirement to immunize health care workers. Each community is unique, with different demands, concerns and factors that must be considered when determining the best course of action regarding health care worker vaccinations. But we strongly believe that hospitals should have the ability to make the individual decision to require vaccinations for their employees based on their local community and workforce needs.
Health care experts have weighed in on the importance of health care worker vaccinations. We now urge state policymakers to lift the prohibition and let Oregon’s hospitals consider for themselves how best to address COVID-19 safety in their communities.
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July 28, 2021 at 08:00PM
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Opinion: Let health care providers require COVID-19 vaccines for employees - OregonLive
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