CHICAGO (June 15, 2011) – Geisinger Health System vaccinated more than 92% of all employees against influenza this season, with a modification of a mandatory program. On average, fewer than half of all healthcare workers receive flu vaccinations.
To increase vaccination rates among staff, some hospitals have instituted the kind of heavy-handed approach that makes conservatives shudder – get vaccinated or lose your job. Geisinger Health System chose a slightly different approach, allowing their 14,000 employees to opt out of receiving the flu vaccine for ethical or medical reasons, but only if they wear facemask for the entire flu season, extending from November 1 to March 31.
All vaccinated employees were known by a campaign sticker placed on their identification badge – no sticker meant the employee needed to wear a mask whenever they were within five or six feet of any other person throughout the entire day.
It's slightly better than putting numbered tattoos or a Star of David on them but anyone with cultural common sense can see how creepy it is to ghetto-ize their employees this way. Why their union has not demanded a walk-out is a mystery.
No special sticker? You will be treated like a leper - or a woman in Saudi Arabia - and have to cover yourself in public or be fired.
In an article published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, Dr. Lisa Esolen extolled the effectiveness of their program in boosting Geisinger's influenza vaccination rates for two consecutive years. This past season, 2010-2011, Geisinger had vaccinated 95% of clinical employees and 92% of all employees by mid-December. Since hospitals continue to release vaccine until the end of March, final vaccination rates were not known at that the time of this publication.
"Influenza vaccination rates among hospital employees has received extensive attention in recent years," said Lisa Esolen, MD, Systems Director, Infection Control Geisinger Health System "Healthcare workers are critical to limiting the spread of influenza since they are exposed to numerous sick patients and can readily spread the infection from patient to patient.
"We're proud of the success we had and the team building it inspired, encouraging each unit to act as a team to achieve full vaccination."