OhioHealth pauses enforcement of COVID vaccine mandate
One of the region's largest health care providers will pause enforcement of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
OhioHealth will hold off on enforcing a mandate for all employees and associates that it announced in August, according to a prepared statement from the health system.
One reason for the pause is House Bill 218, which is under consideration by the legislature, according to OhioHealth. If it becomes law, the bill would expand vaccine exemptions and prevent businesses from requiring proof of vaccination from customers or employees if an immunization has yet to receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
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Despite the pause, OhioHealth maintains it will still require its workers to get vaccinated for COVID.
"We believe, like the majority of health systems nationwide, that requiring the vaccine is the right thing to do to protect our patients and staff from COVID-19 and are moving forward with our decision to require the COVID-19 vaccine or have an approved medical or religious exemption," a statement from the health system reads.
As of Wednesday, nearly 83% of OhioHealth's 35,000 associates, providers and volunteers had been vaccinated for COVID-19 or successfully applied for an exemption, spokesman Colin Yoder said.
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OhioHealth isn't the first hospital system in the state to announce it would pause the enforcement of its vaccine mandate.
The Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Aultman Hospitals in northeast Ohio all paused their requirements for employees to be vaccinated Dec. 3. The pause came after a federal judge last week temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's mandate for health care workers from going into effect in Ohio.
Every major Columbus health system announced last summer that it would require the COVID-19 vaccine for all workers. In October, The Dispatch found that most Columbus-area hospital workers already have been vaccinated for COVID-19.
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Nationwide Children's Hospital set an Oct. 1 deadline, and by Oct. 11 more than 90% of workers there had gotten the jab. The Dispatch has reached out to Nationwide Children's for an update on the status of vaccinations of workers, associates and volunteers but has not heard back.
Around 99% of Mount Carmel workers have been vaccinated or applied for an exemption, spokeswoman Samantha Irons said via email Wednesday. Citing vaccines as the "best defense" against COVID, Irons said the health system has no plans to pause its vaccine mandate. Mount Carmel's deadline was Nov. 30.
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Ohio State Wexner Medical Center set an Oct. 15 deadline for its workers to get vaccinated. As of Wednesday, 93% of the medical center's 23,000 employees have gotten the shot, 5% are exempt and 2% have yet to apply for an exemption or show proof of vaccination, spokeswoman Marti Leitch said via email.
Still, the regulatory landscape for COVID vaccine mandates has become more "complex" given different court rulings and legislation, Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer at the Wexner Medical Center, said during a news briefing Wednesday.
"I do think that regulatory uncertainty is leading some hospitals to just pause," Thomas said. "We're moving forward and just having individual discussions with people."
mfilby@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OhioHealth pauses enforcement of COVID vaccine mandate
