Ballad orders staff vaccinations

Starting Jan. 4, all Ballad Health employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they have an approved medical or religious exemption.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine made that announcement Nov. 11, according to a Ballad Health press release.

The requirement followed the release of a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule requiring that health care organizations participating in Medicare and Medicaid must require staff to get vaccinated.

“This new rule is far-reaching and the implications are very serious for hospitals and health systems,” Levine wrote. “Non-compliance by hospitals will lead to significant fines and, ultimately, termination from federal health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid.”

More than 70 percent of Ballad Health’s patients depend on government-funded health care, Levine noted.

While companies with 100 or more employees are able to let employees get tested weekly instead of vaccination, the Medicare/Medicaid rule explicitly rejected that option for affected health care organizations, he explained.

“I have strongly advocated that people choose to be vaccinated, and we — Ballad Health — have leaned heavily into educating people on the reasons why choosing to vaccinate is the best decision each can make,” Levine wrote. He added that he believes vaccination “is a very personal decision” and that he has raised concerns that a federal mandate “will be highly disruptive to staffing, particularly in rural communities.”

Employees seeking an exemption were told to return the required paperwork by Nov. 24.