·         Organization Name: Salem Health

·         Does your organization have a mandatory flu vaccination program?  Yes, Employees must participate, but they can decline vaccination officially which counts as participating.

·         Does your organization allow employees to submit medical and/or religious exemptions to the flu vaccine? Yes and they can decline for personal reasons as well.

·         Who in your organization is responsible for reviewing religious exemptions, i.e. EH, HR?  Since we allow anyone to decline for any reason, we don’t have to review them.

·         Do you require exempted employees to wear masks while working? Yes, for anyone within 6 feet of a patient.

o   If yes, when are they required to start masking?  “Mask on” is determined by the Infection Prevention Department when influenza testing positivity in our area reaches 10% positive.  Infection Prevention also determines when “mask off” occurs.

o   If yes, do you differentiate masking requirements for patient care versus non-patient care areas?  We use the 6 foot distance from a patient.

o   If yes, how does your organization ensure that exempted employees are actually wearing the masks?  Management in the various areas are to observe.

o   If yes, are there any times that exempted employees are permitted to not wear masks while working?  If they are greater than 6 feet from a patient.

 

 

Jordana McDonald FNP-c

Salem Health Employee Health/Occupational Medicine

Salem Health Medical Group

 

SALEM HEALTH

Hospitals & Clinics

1002 Bellevue Street SE

Salem, OR 97301

Jordana.mcdonald@salemhealth.org

503-814-7250

Fax: 503-814-7253

 

 

 

 

Good morning, I have a few questions for the group about your influenza vaccination programs, in particular masking of exempted employees.  We require all exempted employees to wear masks while working on health system owned or leased property, regardless of whether they have patient contact.  Based upon lab confirmed influenza rates in our hospital, we invoked our masking protocol on Friday, December 29^th and are looking for feedback from other hospitals on how you handle your programs.

 

·         Organization Name

·         Does your organization have a mandatory flu vaccination program?

·         Does your organization allow employees to submit medical and/or religious exemptions to the flu vaccine?

·         Who in your organization is responsible for reviewing religious exemptions, i.e. EH, HR?

·         Do you require exempted employees to wear masks while working?

o   If yes, when are they required to start masking?

o   If yes, do you differentiate masking requirements for patient care versus non-patient care areas?

o   If yes, how does your organization ensure that exempted employees are actually wearing the masks?

o   If yes, are there any times that exempted employees are permitted to not wear masks while working?

o   If yes, do you have any lessons learned that have made your masking requirement efforts successful?

 

Thank you,

Meredith

 

/ Meredith R. Weaver, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Manager, Employee Health

WVU Medicine

PO Box 8120

Morgantown, WV 26506-8120

Clinic: 304-598-4160

Direct: 304-598-6654 or 7-6654

Fax: 304-598-4957

weaverm@wvumedicine.org

WVUMedicine.org

 

 

 

 

 

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 Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.