OHSU COVID-19 vaccine policy implementation, operations update

*** Updated October 20, 2021 ***

At OHSU, the health and safety of our patients, employees and learners is our top priority. As the state’s academic health and science university, OHSU supports and follows the scientific evidence confirming the safety and effectiveness of all three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States.

OHSU strongly encourages vaccination for all who are eligible, and strongly believes that vaccination is one of the best things anyone can do to protect themselves, our patients, loved ones, neighbors, friends, and the community at large to protect serious illness or death.

To ensure that our hospitals and clinics remain as safe as possible over the long term, starting October 18, 2021, all OHSU members – staff, learners, and volunteers across the facility – must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or have an approved medical or religious vaccination Exception.

OHSU recognizes that vaccination is a personal choice and that the choice can be difficult for many of our members. The situation is also difficult for our university because we value our more than 22,000 employees, apprentices and volunteers very much.

OHSU has one of the highest vaccination rates among hospitals and health systems in the region, with more than 96% of OHSU members fully vaccinated, in accordance with OHSU policy and Oregon state law.

Since we first announced an institutional immunization policy in May 2021, the OHSU has seen a steady increase in vaccination rates among its workforce, demonstrating our members’ unwavering commitment to ensuring the health and safety of their patients, colleagues and themselves.

Vaccinations are key to protecting ourselves and our loved ones from contracting COVID-19 and ending this devastating pandemic. We hope that everyone who can be vaccinated will be vaccinated.

operation

Vaccine compliance is just one of many issues affecting health care workers at OHSU across the state and across the country. OHSU is committed to providing the best possible and safest access to health services and will not close any clinics or hospital units as a direct result of non-compliance with vaccination guidelines.

OHSU is currently focused on increasing the available staff to further minimize the operational impact and maintain the necessary services our patients require. 32 OHSU members have received exemptions from the vaccination policy and 422 members in the OHSU’s health, research and education missions have been dismissed or put on unpaid leave as of October 18, 2021. We continue to evaluate hospitals and outpatient surgeries on a day-to-day basis and are ready to reallocate staff to teams in need of assistance due to departures and hire temporary workers to fill vacancies.

At various times during the pandemic, the OHSU has capped the number of non-urgent procedures and surgeries performed each day in response to dramatic increases or decreases in patients seriously ill with COVID-19. Currently, we continue to see the high demand for hospital admissions from emergency rooms, practices, clinics, and relocations from across the state beyond our bed capacity. We assume that we will continue to have to restrict daily procedures, surgeries, and hospital admissions as well as the working hours of some imaging and laboratory services to varying degrees.

According to the numbers

From Tuesday, October 19th:

• 21,683 OHSU staff, students and volunteers are fully vaccinated.
• 161 members are partially vaccinated. These people have been given temporary leave until their vaccination series is completed.
• 261 members did not comply with OHSU policy or Oregon state law, which means they did not receive an approved medical or religious exception and did not take any action to get vaccinated. These people have been given leave of absence and can be terminated.
• 32 members have received an approved medical or religious exemption and can continue to work or study at OHSU without vaccination. Consistent with OHSU’s commitment to ensure the health and safety of all those who have entrusted their care to us, the few OHSU members in patient positions who have not been fully vaccinated are required to have tests twice a week and there is no urgent need In order to avoid injuries and to maintain health, roles are assigned that do not involve direct, personal patient contact. In the event that such roles are not available, these members can be accommodated, which includes unpaid leave of absence.
• A total of 42 medical and 467 religious exemption requests were submitted by OHSU members; some of these are currently under review by the OHSU Vaccination Exemptions Review Board, which is made up of representatives from the OHSU’s Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunities, Student Access, Staff, Occupational Health, Student Health and Wellness, Law and Center for Diversity and Inclusion Departments. The panel thoroughly examines each request against a set of narrow criteria – in accordance with the law – for each employee, learner or volunteer. Each review includes two independent assessments by the members of this committee to determine whether an application meets the very specific legal exemptions. Medical exception requests are independently reviewed by two doctors who are part of the committee to explain the medical rationale of each request.