Penn Highlands Healthcare to comply with vaccination mandate
Penn Highlands Healthcare’s chief operations officer said Thursday that the health system will comply with a federal mandate requiring employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4, 2022.
PHH includes Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital.
During a news conference, COO Mark Norman said the vaccine rule protects patients and staff.
“COVID-19 continues to make people ill, particularly unvaccinated people,” Norman said, “and the COVID-19 vaccine is currently our best defense.”
He also noted the health system stands to lose as much as 66% of net revenue that it receives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for its services.
Norman said the PHH has strongly encouraged employees to get vaccinated since the COVID-19 vaccines became available, and said, “If we fail to comply, it puts all of our hospitals at risk for closure, and everyone stands to lose: employees, patients, and everyone in the community.”
Employees who are not fully vaccinated by Jan. 3, 2022, will be placed on administrative leave for 45 days. If they are not vaccinated by the end of that time, they will lose their jobs.
As of Nov. 1, 66% of PHH employees were fully vaccinated.
The mandate does not give unvaccinated health-care workers the option to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
Norman said he doesn’t have any estimate of how many of the health system’s 1,922 employees who are not yet vaccinated will opt to seek work elsewhere.
He said the PHH is working on contingency staffing plans.
Meanwhile, health-care workers at Penn Highlands DuBois, along with community members, plan to hold a “Medical Freedom of Choice” rally on Friday to protest the mandate.