5 health systems suspending vaccination mandates/ Becker's hospital review

"With litigation pending over the mandate, here are five healthcare organizations that are suspending mandates:

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/workforce/5-health-systems-suspending-vaccination-mandates.html

1. Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health is suspending its COVID-19 team member vaccination requirement because of the temporary halt of the CMS mandate, Sandy Dees, media relations coordinator at the health system, wrote in a statement shared with Becker's. She said the health system will continue to keep an eye on the situation and is committed to complying with all federal requirements.

2. Intermountain Healthcare said the Salt Lake City-based health system has temporarily paused enforcement of its vaccination requirement as it awaits the outcome of national litigation regarding federal requirements, according to a statement shared with Becker's. Intermountain said the temporary pause is in place until courts provide clearer direction. Prior to the pause, 95 percent of Intermountain workers had complied with the government requirement.

3. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare is pausing its COVID-19 vaccination mandate amid recent federal court decisions, except for states that have their own mandates, according to a statement shared with Becker's. The pause affects all states in which HCA operates, except California and Colorado.

4. St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho, has paused its employee vaccination requirement following the [temporary???] stop on federal requirements, according to The Lewiston Tribune. Samantha Skinner, a spokesperson for the hospital, said Dec. 1 that St. Joseph "remain[s] committed to fulfilling all of our regulatory and compliance obligations" and "will take the appropriate action depending on the final outcome of the legal proceedings," according to the newspaper.  

5. Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health has suspended the vaccination requirement for its employees following federal court decisions, according to local news source WJHL. In an email to employees shared with the news station, Ballad Health CEO and President Alan Levine wrote that the health system "seeks to comply with properly promulgated rules and laws and will act accordingly in such cases."'