Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Tiny Percent Of Health Workers Fired, Quit Or Suspended Over Vax Mandates
The University of Colorado鈥檚 health system fired 119 employees for not adhering to their vaccine requirement without a religious or medical exemption. That accounts for less than 0.5% of the company鈥檚 of their 26,500 employees around the state, said UCHealth spokesperson Dan Weaver. UCHealth employees had until Oct. 1 to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or apply and receive an exemption. Among those fired, 54 employees were from the Denver region, 33 from northern Colorado and 32 from the southern part of the state. (10/5)
Kaiser Permanente聽has suspended more than 2,200 employees who have not yet gotten vaccinated, according to reports.聽The workers, who make up between 1% and 2% of the health care company鈥檚 nationwide workforce, have been placed on unpaid administrative leave, according to FOX 2 in the Bay Area.聽The company announced the vaccine mandate in August and said this week that employees will have until Dec. 1 to get the vaccine or they could be fired.聽(Stimson, 10/6)
About 400 workers聽have walked off the job at Henry Ford Health System rather than take a required COVID-19 vaccine, the Detroit-based hospital system said Tuesday.聽Another 1,900 workers, however, got exemptions from the health system鈥檚 vaccine requirement.聽The workers who have left comprise about 1% of the workforce of 33,000 people, said Bob Riney, chief operating officer for the five-hospital chain. (Erb, Jordan Shamus and Wells, 10/5)
Also 鈥�
KHN: California Vaccine Mandate Extends To Aides For People With Disabilities聽
Workers in adult and senior care facilities and in-home aides have been added to the list of California health workers who must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Those who work directly with people with disabilities 鈥� such as employees paid through the state鈥檚 regional center network, aides contracted by agencies, and in-home support service workers who don鈥檛 live with the person they assist 鈥� are now included in the vaccine mandate. This new group must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30. (Fortier, 10/6)