Most St. Rose, UMC employees got COVID shot or seek exemption

The vast majority of employees at St. Rose Dominican hospitals and University Medical Center have either complied with a COVID-19 vaccination requirement or are seeking a medical or religious exemption, representatives said this week.

More than 90 percent of employees at St. Rose hospitals in Southern Nevada have been vaccinated or received exemptions, spokesman Gordon Absher said.

Absher declined to disclose whether any employees had been terminated so far and, if so, how many. However, he said some employees will be permitted to stay on until replacements are found.

“Employees who requested an exemption and were not approved will be able to continue to work while we seek to fill their role, to ensure we can keep providing essential health care services for the community,” Absher said in a statement.

At UMC, 98.5 percent of full-time employees have been vaccinated or are seeking an exemption, hospital CEO Mason Van Houweling said.

“We continue to work alongside employees who have submitted medical or religious accommodation requests,” Van Houweling said in a statement. “While we may ultimately lose a handful of employees as a result of this mandatory vaccination policy, we also anticipate an increased level of interest from highly qualified applicants.”

St. Rose Dominican announced a vaccination mandate for its employees in mid-August. Its requirement applies to employees, physicians with hospital privileges, volunteers and others caring for patients at the Siena, San Martin and de Lima campuses. UMC followed with its own vaccination mandate in September.

UMC and St. Rose personnel had until Monday to meet the requirement.

Requests for exemptions were evaluated at St. Rose based on guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, Absher said.

Medical exemptions were granted for people with documented information from their health care provider that they have one or more of the conditions identified by the CDC, FDA, or vaccine manufacturer that prevent or delay vaccination, he said.

Falling under a medical exemption would be people who might be at risk for an adverse reaction to vaccination because of an allergy to a vaccine component or because of a medical condition, the CDC states on its website. It did not list specific conditions.

St. Rose granted religious exemptions for individuals with “sincerely held religious beliefs,” based on guidelines from the EEOC.

“It is important to note that no religion has publicly opposed the vaccine,” Absher said. “Our review process did not consider political positions and scientifically inaccurate reasons to be ‘sincerely held religious beliefs.’”

St. Rose has shared safety information with its employees about the vaccines and has offered convenient options for getting vaccinated, Absher said.

“We will continue to work in good faith with employees not yet vaccinated, encouraging them to do so, and hoping they will remain with our organization,” he said.

Las Vegas-area hospitals, like hospitals across the country, are struggling with shortages of staff, including nurses. The National Nurses Association United, which represents St. Rose nurses, did not respond to a request to provide the number of nurses, if any, who had been terminated by St. Rose for failing to adhere to the vaccination mandate.

More hospitals may soon be grappling with a mandate. The Biden administration is requiring that workers at companies with more than 100 people and workers in health care facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs be vaccinated by Jan. 4. Republicans are challenging the requirement.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.