Kaiser Permanente, the Oakland, Calif.-based integrated healthcare system, announced on August 2 it will make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all its employees and physicians.
According to ABC7, “The organization has set a target of September 30 to have all employees fully vaccinated. Officials say all unvaccinated employees and physicians will be required to be fully vaccinated or apply for medical or religious exemption.”
That said, “As of July 31, officials say that 77.8 percent of Kaiser Permanente employees and more than 95 percent of Permanente Medical Group physicians have been fully vaccinated.”
Yet, Kaiser is one of Oregon’s largest private health systems. According to an article from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), by Rob Manning and Amelia Templeton, “Oregon law prohibits employers from requiring healthcare workers [to] get vaccinated as a condition of employment, though at least one other health system—the U.S. Veterans Administration—has taken a similar step. Kaiser is based in Oakland, California, but said its new mandate applies in Oregon. In a statement from the corporate office in Portland, Kaiser acknowledged the 1989 state law at issue, summarizing it to mean ‘healthcare workers do not need to be vaccinated as a condition of employment.’”
Regarding the VA, on July 27, Templeton, Kate Davidson, and Manning from OPB reported, “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for its front-line healthcare employees, including doctors, nurses, and dentists. Employees will have eight weeks to be fully vaccinated and can get the shot for free at any VA facility. It makes the VA the first healthcare system in Oregon to require the vaccination; state law generally prevents such mandates for healthcare workers.”
The OPB article by Manning and Templeton includes a statement sent by Kaiser’s director of integrated services Michael G. Foley, addressing the Oregonian law, “However, because of the growing seriousness of the current situation, the new risks and increased cases caused by the delta variant, as well as the priority to keep patients and employees safe, we will act to apply the vaccination requirement in the Northwest region.”
The article continues, “Foley said Kaiser is working with state health officials and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to ‘support vaccination to the fullest extent permitted by law and any future guidance.’”
Further, “A provision in the law allows healthcare employers to mandate immunizations for their workforces if state law or regulations require the shots. A spokesman for Gov. Brown said she expects to announce a decision about vaccination and testing policies for healthcare workers later this week.”
Brown did just that on August 4. According to another OPB article by Dirk VanderHart and Templeton, “Oregon healthcare workers will need to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or face weekly tests, under a rule Gov. Kate Brown plans to implement in late September.”
The article continues, “As an alarming rise in case numbers and hospitalizations threatens to overwhelm public health departments and local hospitals, Brown announced Wednesday she’s directed the Oregon Health Authority to create new rules designed to apply pressure on healthcare workers. They can either get vaccinated by Sept. 30 or face frequent tests for the virus.”
An article from Oregon Live by Fedor Zarkhin quoted Brown saying that “This new safety measure is necessary to stop delta from causing severe illness among our first line of defense: our doctors, nurses, medical students, and frontline healthcare workers. Severe illness from COVID-19 is now largely preventable, and vaccination is clearly our best defense.”
Further, “The Oregon Health Authority will issue a regulation codifying Brown’s policy this week. Per the broad-brush strokes described by the governor’s office, healthcare workers will have to show they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 starting Sept. 30 or submit to coronavirus testing once a week. Employers will have to figure out how to pay for the tests, Brown’s office said.”
Finally, “Brown’s office said the rule will apply to ‘licensed healthcare providers, long-term care facilities, outpatient facilities, in-home care, pharmacies, urgent care centers, specialty centers, and more.’ There are about 266,000 licensed and unlicensed healthcare workers in Oregon, according to employment data cited by Brown’s office.”
Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente headquartered in Oakland, Calif., comprises Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and its subsidiaries, and The Permanente Medical Groups. It has 12.5 million members, 39 hospitals, 724 medical offices, 23,597 physicians, 63,847 nurses, and 216,776 employees.
