Lee Memorial requiring flu vaccinations for staff, volunteers
Lee Memorial Health System will announce today plans to require its 15,000 employees and volunteers to get flu vaccinations as a condition of employment, unless they cannot for medical or religious reasons.
Nonemployee medical workers with privileges at the health system's hospitals must also be inoculated.
The planned requirement is not in response to any particular concerns about the 2014-15 flu season, administrators say. Rather, they characterized it as the logical expansion of existing flu season policy, which strongly encourages workers to get flu shots.
"We think it's an excellent way to prevent our patients from getting the flu," said health system spokeswoman Mary Briggs. "It's definitely been a trend across the country at hospitals."
The health system will pay for all the vaccinations, Briggs said. That expected cost was not available Thursday. Flu vaccinations are generally covered by health insurance. Otherwise, they commonly retail for $20 or $30 each.
The requirement takes effect in October, around the start of the flu season. It usually peaks in January or February.
People claiming a religious exemption will have to file requests with the organization's human resources department, which must approve any such waivers. Medical exemptions will be made by those presenting notes from their doctors.
"Those people who have a bona fide reason for not taking the vaccine will be required to wear the mask, which we've seen in the past during other flu seasons," said Steve Streed, the health system's infections control chief.
Employee badges will indicate those who have been vaccinated and the medical staffers who should be wearing masks, Streed said.
Additional details of the new vaccination requirements are expected today.
Lee Memorial operates four acute-care hospitals in the Fort Myers area, as well as a number of specialty health centers and clinics throughout Southwest Florida. Combined they account for nearly 95 percent of the hospital beds in Lee County.
Older adults, pregnant women, very young children and anyone with a compromised immune system is at high risk of complications from the flu. The virus is commonly spread by people who cough or sneeze within six feet of someone else. It's also possible to catch it by touching a contaminated surface.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all health care workers get vaccinated every year against the flu. Last year, nearly 63 percent of U.S. health care workers had done so, according to the CDC.
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