[MCOH-EH] MCOH-EH Digest, Vol 250, Issue 116 Flu vaccination exemptions

[Upfal, Mark]

We define religious exemption by any religious or spiritual belief that precludes injection of foreign substances such as immunizations.  Documentation from a religious leader is optional, and we don't even require affiliation with any specific religious institution.  We do not question the belief system itself.  However, the belief cannot be based on arguments of efficacy or safety of the vaccine; the belief must be related to injections of foreign substances.  It cannot be specific to only one vaccine such as flu vaccine.  We use a questionnaire that obtains a history of when the religious belief began, and a history of prior vaccinations.  We expect the individual with a bona fide religious contraindication to have also avoided other vaccinations since the date that they claim they adopted that religious belief. We review their vaccination history based on their own history, supplemented by our prior records and our state vaccine database.  

We have a committee that reviews the applications for religious exemption consisting of representatives from Occ Med, HR, legal, medical ethics, and infectious disease.  With good preparation of files, the meetings (usually by conf call) are pretty quick.  It seems that about half our applications are accepted and about half rejected.  Out of about 12,000 employees, we only get a handful of applications for religious exemption that get to the committee.  Those who are accepted as having a bona fide religious exemption are expected to wear a mask when working within 6 feet of a patient during flu season.  


Mark Upfal, MD, MPH
Corp Medical Director, DMC Occupational Health Services
4201 Saint Antoine, UHC 4G-3
Detroit, MI 48201
(313) 993-0509
www.dmc.org/ohs
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-----Original Message-----
From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Harriman, Kathleen (CDPH-CID-DCDC-IMM)
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 3:36 PM
To: mcoh-eh at mylist.net
Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] MCOH-EH Digest, Vol 250, Issue 116 Flu vaccination exemptions

How is an approved religious exemption defined?

Kathleen Harriman
Immunization Branch
California Department of Public Health

-----Original Message-----
From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces+kathleen.harriman=cdph.ca.gov at mylist.net] On Behalf Of mcoh-eh-request at mylist.net
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 12:00 PM
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Subject: MCOH-EH Digest, Vol 250, Issue 116

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re:  Flu vaccination (Schweitzer, Kit) (Sharon Petersen)


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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:26:27 +0000
From: Sharon Petersen <Sharon.Petersen at imail.org>
To: "mcoh-eh at mylist.net" <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] Flu vaccination (Schweitzer, Kit)
Message-ID:
	<51B019A2E362D245BCE056A67A359EC71963AA87 at TX-EXMBN02.CO.IHC.COM>
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We have a mandatory policy and employees who have an approved religious or medical exemption are required to wear masks when they are in patient care areas. The employee signs a masking agreement with their supervisor at the time the exemption is approved. The signed masking agreement is kept in their department file and managers are accountable for monitoring compliance.



Sharon Petersen, MHA, BSN, RN, COHN/CM
Intermountain Healthcare
Director, Employee Health Operations



-----Original Message-----
From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of mcoh-eh-request at mylist.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 1:00 PM
To: mcoh-eh at mylist.net
Subject: MCOH-EH Digest, Vol 250, Issue 115

Send MCOH-EH mailing list submissions to
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re:  Flu vaccination (Schweitzer, Kit)


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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2015 19:19:46 +0000
From: "Schweitzer, Kit" <KSchweitzer at peacehealth.org>
To: "MCOH/EH" <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] Flu vaccination
Message-ID:
	<B830918CAB5CEA4E83FFDC528028B3A9604B9FE7 at PHEXMBX02.peacehealth.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

We have a mandatory policy for flu vaccinations, but we allow staff to decline and wear a facemask in patient care areas to meet compliance.


Kit Schweitzer, RN, BSN, COHN
Employee Health Nurse
Employee Health and Safety
Sacred Heart Medical Center
(541) 222-2544 Office
(541) 434-3140 e-Fax
3333 RiverBend Drive, Springfield, OR 97477 www.peacehealth.org<http://www.peacehealth.org/>
[cid:image001.png at 01CBF05C.90368260]


From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Leibu, Rachel
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 6:31 AM
To: 'MCOH/EH'
Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] Flu vaccination

Our organization has a mandatory flu vaccination policy.  Employees who are vaccinated have a sticker on their badge denoting that they have received the vaccine.  Managers are also sent lists of outstanding employees who need to be vaccinated on a periodic basis.

Rachel Leibu, MD, MBA, MS
Medical Director Occupational Medicine Service Atlantic Health System 973-971-5440

From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces+rachel.leibu=atlantichealth.org at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Giovannetti, Mary
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 9:16 AM
To: MCOH/EH (mcoh-eh at mylist.net<mailto:mcoh-eh at mylist.net>)
Subject: [MCOH-EH] Flu vaccination

What are your organizations doing to help managers identify who has or has not had a flu vaccine? At this time we are not mandatory but they have to wear a mask if they decline.

Mary C Giovannetti, MSN, APRN, BC-FNP
Manager/Nurse Practitioner | Employee Health

[cid:image001.png at 01CFD7E5.AFEE0CD0]

853 North Church St, Suite 400 | Spartanburg, SC 29303
o: 864-560-6514 | f: 864-560-6509
e: mgiovannetti at srhs.com<mailto:mgiovannetti at srhs.com> | w: SpartanburgRegional.com<https://mail1.peacehealth.org/enduser/classify_url.html?url=Hn3UVuOqsArSUX6d5gW27tDh8bl/hTJN+eIUS6gOay63W6zTrBu24s/aWTwMnXbP>


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