Western Pa. health care facilities in compliance with federal vaccine mandate

Western Pennsylvania’s health care facilities largely are in compliance with the first deadline of a federal mandate requiring employees to be vaccinated against covid-19.

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month upheld the mandate requiring all employees at health care providers that receive federal funding to be fully vaccinated by the end of February. The deadline for workers to receive the first of a two-dose vaccine was Jan. 27.

“We know these vaccines work. We see firsthand every day in our hospitals the tragic consequences of not being vaccinated. And we know that the only way to keep our patients safe, to protect our health care teams and to move forward as a community, is to require covid-19 vaccination among those we employ,” said Dan Laurent, vice president of communications for Allegheny Health Network.

Laurent said 99% of the Allegheny Health Network’s more than 37,000 workers are vaccinated.

Employees who have not complied with the mandate will be placed on leave for two weeks. Staffers who initiate the vaccination process over those two weeks will be permitted to return to work.

“Team members choosing not to begin the vaccination process during the two-week period will be deemed to have voluntarily resigned,” Laurent said.

UPMC said about 90% of its staff is vaccinated.

“We are educating our employees, making vaccine easily accessible and having individual discussions with employees who are hesitant as we further our mission of caring for our patients and our communities,” said UPMC spokesman Taylor Andres.

Excela Health, the Westmoreland County-based health system that operates three hospitals, said it has reached 90% compliance. Its officials did not respond to questions about how it will deal with employees who have so far refused vaccinations.

“Excela is at 90% compliance, and that number continues to rise. It is our intention to comply with all of the specific requirements of the mandate,” spokeswoman Robin Jennings said.

The federal mandate applies to personal care and nursing homes as well.

Allegheny County, which operates four Kane Community Living Centers, has had a vaccine mandate for staff in place since Dec. 27, according to county spokeswoman Amie Downs.

“Every one of our employees who works at the Kane centers is vaccinated,” she said.

Westmoreland officials did not respond Friday to questions about the compliance at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield. In mid-January, the county reported that 77% of staffers at Westmoreland Manor were vaccinated. Unvaccinated employees had until Jan. 19 to seek a religious exemption to continue working, administrators said.

The Manor, a 408-bed facility, gets 95% of its revenues from federal sources. That approached $50 million in 2021 — money that could be forfeited if the county does not comply with the mandate.

“My main priority is keeping the doors open at Westmoreland Manor. To do that, we must receive federal funds. All federal mandates will be followed,” county Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said.

Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew said that while he’s not opposed to people’s right to choose to take the vaccine, he’s against the mandate.

“My heart goes out to every staff member that has the difficult choice between livelihood and unapproved vaccines,” Chew said.

“I go on the record today saying that if they choose to accept termination over this mandate, that I will have no issue in their eventual return to the Manor after this nonsense has passed.”

John Dixon, chief executive officer for Greensburg-based Redstone Highlands, which operates three nursing homes in Westmoreland County, is paying workers $150 to get booster vaccinations in addition to their one- or two-dose shots.

Dixon said only about 10 staffers among a workforce of about 300 employees remain unvaccinated and have received religious or medical exemptions to remain on the job. Those workers are regularly tested for coronavirus, he said.

Since Jan. 1, 79 Redstone Highlands employees have tested positive for the virus. Most of those infections were among staffers who had yet to receive booster shots.

“We have been on a campaign to get people boosted,” Dixon said.