Doctors, medical professionals and others who work inside medical facilities spend their careers helping those who are sick and injured. This week, many will have to face the decision whether to get vaccinated or not as medical facilities accross the nation begin mandating vaccines.
On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis urged the State Board of Health to require vaccines for staff working in places where others seek essential medical care due to the spreading delta variant of the coronavirus.
“This is a grave situation as we find ourselves staring down the far more contagious delta variant and knowing that the estimated 30-40% of unvaccinated staff provides too many opportunities for this virus to enter into these facilities,” Polis said in his statement to the State Board of Health.
Among the facilities in Colorado to require staff vaccinations are UCHealth, Banner Health, Denver Health, Children’s Hospital Colorado, SCL Health, Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, National Jewish, Boulder Community Hospital and Kaiser Permanente.
“We know that vaccinations improve health and safety in the communities UCHealth serves, and we want to set an example and help bring an end to this pandemic,” said Elizabeth Concordia, president and CEO of UCHealth in a post on the UCHealth website.
Longmont United Health, part of the Centura Health family, is among those not yet requiring vaccines for staff. According to a media spokesperson, the medical facility will re-evaluate the mandate once the FDA approves the vaccine.
Although not requiring the vaccine, Centura Health reported that nearly 80% of its 21,000 caregivers have received the vaccine and is encouraging others by offering a $500 appreciation bonus as an incentive, the media spokesperson said via email.
“This bonus is our appreciation for those caregivers and their commitment to our communities, our healing ministry, and their co-workers,” said Centura Health President and CEO Peter D. Banko in a post on the Centura website.
At UCHealth, staff members have until Oct. 1 to become fully vaccinated or to obtain an approved exemption, according to the post.
As part of his plea to the State Board of Health, Polis stated many medical facilities worry about staff shortages due to the inconsistent mandate across facilities.
“In our conversations, these (medical facility) leaders have shared that while they know they made the right decision and are willing to do their part, this is hard and could exacerbate workforce stress and shortages. Therefore, they urged me and for the state to act on a more comprehensive approach to the entire healthcare and caretaker workforce in order to prevent more disruption to the workforce's needs,” Polis stated to the State Board of Health.
Although having mandated vaccines, UCHealth reports that it currently has the necessary staff to care for all patients. However, “if needed, we have plans in place to redeploy nursing staff from our outpatient clinics or other areas to care for hospitalized patients,” said Kelly Tracer, senior media relations specialist for UCHealth.
Since the beginning of COVID, nurses, physicians and other medical staff have worked tirelessly to provide care for patients. According to a study conducted in April and published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, 53% of health care professionals have experienced a high level of burnout.
“Burnout is prevalent among healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. Age, gender, job category, and site of practice contribute to the level of burnout that the staff experience,” the study concludes.
This is a topic that is “top of mind” for UCHealth, Tracer said.
“... as hospitalization numbers continue to grow and the entire nation faces a shortage of health care employees including nurses and physicians. As we expand the number of beds available for patients, the pressure on our employees and staffing increases,” she said.
For UCHeatlh nearly 90% of the staff and 97% of UCHealth physicians are fully vaccinated which has brought a relief to patients and other staff members.
“When we announced our mandate, the majority of the responses we heard were grateful. Employees have told us ‘thank you’ for helping make them safer. Nurses and doctors from our transplant, cancer and other units have noted that the vaccine mandate is essential to protect our patients with weakened immune systems. Patients have said they want their nurses and doctors to be vaccinated,” Tracer said via email.
Even without vaccine mandates possibly playing a role in potential staffing concerns, hospitals across the nation are challenged to hire enough staff.
“In Colorado, where our population has been growing at one of the nation’s fastest rates, it is especially tough to stay ahead of the growth,” Tracer said.
Fortunately for UCHealth, it has been able to hir more than 4,400 new employees including 1,100 new nurses over the past six months.
“These new employees are making a difference, but especially when our hospitals are as full as they are right now, recruiting employees and retaining our current employees are top priorities for us,” according to Tracer.
