BJC will require staff get flu shots
The area’s largest employer, BJC HealthCare, will require employees to receive a flu shot this year. The shots will be given on-site and free of charge.
BJC said the move is aimed at protecting already vulnerable patients from further illness. It comes as hospital systems across the nation grapple with how to improve infection control.
"We’re dealing with people who by definition are in an impaired state," said Dr. Clay Dunagan, vice president of quality for BJC. "I think we really have an ethical and professional imperative to protect them from the things that we can."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 die from influenza-related complications each year. That’s the highest death rate for any disease with a preventive vaccine.
Still, Dunagan thinks some employees "will have a hard time with it." The system is providing a nasal form of the vaccination for those afraid of needles. Employees with egg allergies or other interfering medical conditions can decline the shot with a note from a physician. Those with religious objections also can decline with proper documentation.
Dunagan said all declinations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. "We’re going to do everything we can to make them feel comfortable and accommodate them," he said.
Employees who are given an exemption will be asked to wear a face mask around patients. Those who refuse the shots without an approved reason could face termination. "We hope we don’t have to test that," Dunagan said. "There is a due process."
The shots will be given starting Oct. 15. Contract employees, such as agency nurse staff, will be expected to receive a flu vaccination. Physicians with hospital privileges but who are not on staff will not be subjected to the mandate.
A similar policy at a Seattle hospital sparked labor strife, when a nurses’ union said the requirement constituted an unfair labor practice and a federal appeals court agreed paydayloans. BJC’s nurses are not represented by a union.
The CDC has recommended since 1984 that health care workers be vaccinated from the flu, but only about 40 percent of them follow the guideline.
The vaccination rate at BJC was 71 percent last year, but the health system felt that was too low. BJC had an aggressive voluntary campaign last year and felt this was the only way to increase participation, Dunagan said. The system has 13 hospitals and more than 25,000 employees.
Before moving forward with the requirement, BJC contacted the Seattle hospital, Virginia Mason Medical Center, and Dr. Gregory Poland, an expert from the Mayo Clinic, who supports mandatory immunization.
Dunagan thinks more hospitals will move to this policy. He also thinks other employers, outside of hospitals, could reduce absenteeism by making flu shots mandatory.
St. John’s Mercy Medical Center already makes employees sign a declination form if they choose not to receive a flu shot. The hospital is considering making the immunizations mandatory. In 2007, 47 percent of St. John’s Mercy workers received the flu vaccine. Its policy goes beyond vaccinations, asking staff to leave if they exhibit any signs of illness, said Robert Ruello, St. John’s vice president of human resources.
SSM Health Care-St. Louis encourages workers to get vaccinated but does not require it, said Neil Kiesel, a spokesman for the area’s second-largest hospital system. Its vaccination rates also are about 50 percent.
Some years, the flu shot doesn’t cover the dominant influenza strain, making it less than completely effective.
"The flu vaccine is not perfect," Dunagan said. "But even in years when it does not cover the dominant strain, it usually provides some protection."
mjfeldstein@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8209
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