Steve Marcus
On Wednesday, December 16, 2020, a health care worker in the university medicine will receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Monday, June 28, 2021 | 2 a.m
About one in four employees at two of the largest hospital providers in southern Nevada are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, although medical staff had their first attempt at the vaccine late last year and may have been fully vaccinated for months.
A spokesman for the University Medical Center, one of the country’s largest public hospitals, said this month that 70 to 75% of its approximately 3,800 employees are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The vaccine is not required to work in the county health system.
“UMC’s leadership team considered all of the options available in developing the vaccination policy for hospital staff,” said hospital representative Scott Curbs. “Although COVID-19 vaccinations are not currently compulsory, UMC has achieved a high vaccination rate among employees and we continue to offer our team members on-site vaccinations.”
Dignity hospital chain, which operates about half a dozen hospitals across the valley, also has a voluntary vaccination policy and a similar quota of just over 70%, a company spokesman said. A representative from HCA, which operates Sunrise, MountainView and Southern Hills hospitals, did not respond to inquiries.
Top UMC and Dignity officials were not immediately available for further comment.
Curbs did not have data breaking vaccination rates by employee type. However, a UMC nurse, who refused to reveal her name to the media, citing hospital guidelines, estimated that around 90% of the people in her department were vaccinated. The rest, she said, took a wait and see position to get the vaccine.
She said she had no negative reactions and had no regrets after being on the first wave in December to get the shot.
The nurse admitted that vaccination rates seem low for a medical establishment in the mid to mid-1970s – “like we’re not leading by example” – but she said she fundamentally supports people’s right to choose whether she wanted to do the vaccine.
Everyone in the UMC patient care areas wears masks regardless of their vaccination status.
“I think people should be able to choose whether or not to get vaccinated, and if not, they should keep taking the precautions,” she said. “The mask, the distancing.”
With an optional vaccination policy, local hospitals will not face legal controversy like the one in Texas. There, more than 117 employees of the Houston Methodist private system have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the hospital chain’s requirement that all employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be fired. The lawsuit states that the hospital “requires employees to undergo medical experiments as a prerequisite for feeding their families” because the vaccine was not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Still, the vaccine went through rigorous clinical trials, received emergency approval, and received 315 million doses in the United States.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the hospital system is there to save lives, that the claims in the lawsuit that the vaccines are experimental and dangerous are false, and that employees who do not like the vaccine requirement can find work elsewhere . More than 150 employees who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine have since been laid off or resigned.
Curbs said UMC continues to promote safe and healthy workplaces.
“To promote the safest possible clinical environment for our patients and staff, we are offering tests on campus for symptomatic staff,” he noted. “Earlier this year, we offered $ 200 to each full-time employee who received the vaccine to thank them for making their health a priority and helping us build a healthier future for our community.”
Of the 11,387 health care workers who responded to a University of Michigan nationwide survey, 954 said they would not get the vaccine now, according to a report from Modern Healthcare. A total of 369 medical industry workers, or 3.2%, said they would never receive the vaccine.
Reasons respondents cited for not receiving the vaccine included: how quickly it was developed, disbelief that it would prevent COVID-19 infection, and concerns about side effects.
“If a health worker refuses a COVID-19 vaccine, it affects the herd immunity of health workers and potentially the safety of patients and the communities that the staff serve,” Michelle Moniz, a doctor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said Modernes Healthcare. “And health workers are a trustworthy voice who influences others, so vaccine reluctance in this group could undermine efforts to widely vaccinate the population and achieve herd immunity.”
Few physicians are likely to be among the unvaccinated group, as the American Medical Association reported last week that 96% of practicing physicians in the United States are fully vaccinated.
“Doctors and clinicians are uniquely positioned to listen to and validate patient concerns, and one of the strongest anecdotes a doctor can offer is that they were vaccinated themselves,” said Dr. Association president Susan Bailey in a press release.
Nevada ranks midfield when it comes to vaccine intake. According to NV Health Response, approximately 51% of residents aged 12 and over have received at least one injection; about 43% are fully vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 62% of people aged 12 and over have received at least one injection nationwide.
Nevada officials hope to encourage more residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with prices ranging from fishing licenses to college scholarships to $ 1 million in cash. Almost 2,000 vaccinated winners will receive a share of raffle prizes totaling US $ 5 million during the Vax Nevada Days promotion, which is similar to promotions in Ohio, Oregon, Maryland and New York.
In addition to treating COVID-19 patients, UMC has been a key player in the community’s response to the disease.
For several months, it partnered with Wynn Resorts to offer a vaccination clinic in Encore on the Strip. There are still vaccines in his Advanced Center for Health, a few blocks from the hospital. UMC was at the forefront of testing well into the early days of the pandemic and through to its winter peak.
First Lady Jill Biden stopped by UMC on National Nurses Day last month to thank them and other hospital workers for their pandemic efforts. Former U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams visited the hospital last fall and praised the region for its progress in fighting the virus.
And in December, the state’s first dose of the vaccine was given to a UMC intensive care nurse during a ceremony.
