Kaiser Permanente’s vaccine mandate challenges Oregon medical laws
(The Center Square) – One of Oregon’s largest health care providers is requiring its workers to get vaccinated if they want to keep their jobs.
On Monday, Kaiser Permanente announced it would require vaccinations for its more than 300,000 personnel nationwide, including some 80,000 physicians and nurses.
“Making vaccination mandatory is the most effective way we can protect our people, our patients, and the communities we serve,” chief executive officer Greg Adams said in an online statement, in which he pressed other health care providers to make a similar move. “We encourage all health systems and business and industry leaders across the country to play a role in ending the pandemic by doing the same.”
The news follows concerns among public health officials in Oregon and beyond of gradual upticks in COVID cases brought on by its more infectious delta variant. Gov. Kate Brown is currently contemplating a statewide vaccination mandate.
Kaiser Permanente joins several companies throughout the nation like Walt Disney, McDonald’s and Microsoft who are mandating vaccinations as a condition of employment. Most vaccinations are required in U.S. schools and have been for generations.
A small subsection included in a 1989 law bans employers from requiring health care workers from having to take a shot. A growing list of Democratic lawmakers in the state over the weekend say they want that to change.
They include state Rep. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, a pediatrician who is the vice chair of the Early Childhood Committee. Reynolds says her fellow lawmakers are “working” on addressing the subsection ahead of any gubernatorial actions.
“The reality is, we’ve tried a bunch of ‘carrots,’ that is, incentives, to get vaccinated,” Reynolds said. “And if these patients had received the vaccine, they would not have COVID, nor need hospitalization nor die. My friends who work in hospitals—well, last year they were heartbroken by COVID deaths.”
Nationwide, support for vaccine mandates has grown among medical groups, as evidenced in a letter signed by 60 medical associations last month calling for all health and long-term care workers to get their shots. By contrast, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) has said its members are not supporting or opposing a vaccine mandate out of fear it could spur a mass exodus from the field.
“We are deeply concerned that a vaccine mandate outside of contract negotiations will result in more health care workers leaving the bedside at a time when Oregon’s hospitals are already experiencing serious staffing issues,” wrote ONA communications director Scott Palmer in a statement to Willamette Week.
As of Tuesday, 56% of Oregonians are fully vaccinated. Five percent more are partially vaccinated. That’s higher than the national average of 50%. In Multnomah County, 66% of people are fully vaccinated and those 12 and older are 75% vaccinated.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines strongly recommend face masks in indoor public spaces where “substantial” or “high” transmission rates in the community. The agency bases those classifications as counties with more than 50 cases per 100,000 people. All of Oregon, save for Lake County, meet this criterion. Portland has already mandated public employees and visitors in public buildings wear face masks.
In June, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission deemed workplace vaccination mandates compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Civil Rights Act and other federal laws. However, it noted company rules should avoid being “coercive” or be applied in ways that discriminate against employees based on age, sex, race, nationality, disability or religion, among other factors.
Should Oregon lawmakers call themselves into session this year to address state vaccine law, it will take a majority in both the House and Senate to make it all happen. Neither Brown nor the state’s Democratic majority has signaled if they will return to the state capital this year.
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