To the thousands of brave employees who took a leap of faith. Your spiritual strength had something to do with this. Our internal estimate, based on the numbers of calls, contacts, ad hoc organization of employees, and data analysis we received, was that well over 30,000 health care workers were requesting exemption from the shot.

FROM OHIO HEALTH:

DATE: December 6, 2021

TO: All OhioHealth associates

SUBJECT: ALL STAFF! UPDATE ON COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATE

COVID-19 continues to be a powerful force in our world. The key to our success has been our ability to be flexible and most of all, keep the health and safety of our patients and each other front of mind. Those are the same principles we are applying to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

We stand by our policy that all OhioHealth associates and providers should be vaccinated for the safety of our patients and each other. However, we recently learned that the State government is considering legislation that potentially restricts these types of decisions.

Given the many regulatory and legislative issues that have arisen in the last few days we are PAUSING our timeline related to disciplinary actions associated with non-compliance with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. We are not changing our mandate process, but are pausing on disciplinary action at this time.

Why the pause?

House Bill 218: The Ohio House of Representatives passed this legislation and now it goes to the Senate. It provides a broad range of exemptions to employer mandated COVID-19 vaccine policies.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has suspended enforcement of its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers given a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in Louisiana blocking them from enforcing the mandate.

We do not want to put associates in a position where there is a constant changing of actions required to comply with legislation AND comply with our position as an organization.

We will always follow the law. In addition, we will continue to advocate for the safety and care of our patients and associates which in our opinion is best achieved with mandated vaccines for healthcare workers.

Associate questions related to the exemption process are being reviewed, as appropriate.

What we need from you:

Continue to do what you do best – demonstrate care and compassion for our patients and each other.

Stay focused on our mission and values.

We continue to believe that for the health and safety of our patients and associates, vaccines are right for our patients, our staff, and our providers. Check here for locations and to schedule. You may also visit vaccine.gov for retail locations.

Thank you for all you do for our patients and our community.