At some California hospitals, nearly half of workers remain unvaccinated - OCRegister

Yet after a frenetic rollout and urgent pleas from officials on nearly-bent knees, almost a quarter of California’s hospital workers remained unvaccinated for COVID-19, according to federal data.

At Redlands Community Hospital, 42% of workers were not vaccinated as of July 16, according to federal data.

Officials said about 30% of employees at Los Angeles County hospitals — including  “safety net” facilities that care for uninsured and underinsured patients — were still unvaccinated, though federal figures put the unvaccinated rate far closer to 50% at County USC Medical Center in Los Angeles and County Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, and at 38% at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance.

Just 5% of workers remained unvaccinated at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Long Beach, and only 4.7% were un-jabbed at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, according to the data.

Fewer than 2% — or less — had spurned vaccines at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale and MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, according to the federal data.

But enough large hospitals confirmed the numbers to support an overarching conclusion: Hospital workers are people, too, and a great many of them remain unvaccinated, despite their labor in health care facilities treating patients in fragile conditions.

Not all hospital workers are highly educated medical professionals like doctors and nurses, said Richard Carpiano, a public health scientist and medical sociologist at UC Riverside.

Indeed, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said its fully vaccinated rate for employees closely mirrors the general population of the county, which is 70.9% for those ages 16 and up.

Gavin Newsom required all state workers — and workers in health care and high-risk congregate settings like nursing homes — to either show proof of full vaccination or be tested at least once per week.

President Joe Biden announced a similar plan on July 29, requiring all federal employees to be vaccinated or face new testing, masking and distancing rules.

From police: “(F)orcing people to undertake a medical procedure is not the American way and is a clear civil rights violation no matter how proponents may seek to justify it,” said the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association in a statement.

From letter carriers: “(I)t is not the role of the federal government to mandate vaccinations for the employees we represent,” said the American Postal Workers Union in a statement.

Hospital officials from all over Southern California said the health and safety of their workforce and patients is their overarching priority, and that they’ll comply with the new health orders requiring all workers to show proof of full vaccination or be tested twice weekly.

Gavin Newsom’s “strong and timely action” to require that all state and health care workers show proof of vaccination or be tested regularly, a spokesman said by email.

Kaiser is “encouraged” to see that the majority of its front-line health care workers have been vaccinated, “a critical first step in the societywide vaccination that will be required to control and eventually end this terrible pandemic.” Vaccine education efforts will continue, and the health care giant will continue to evaluate policies and procedures to maintain the highest levels of safety, it said.

County Department of Health Services began vaccination clinics for employees and contractors in December, and workers have been encouraged to get jabbed during work hours, a spokesperson said by email.

The federal data showing high unvaccinated rates for three hospitals is not comprehensive, officials said.

At Redlands Community Hospital, where 58% of employees are vaccinated, and at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where 80% are vaccinated, on-site vaccination clinics are offered to staff, officials said.

At Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and West Anaheim Medical Center — all Prime Healthcare facilities — vaccines will not be mandated for employees at this point, but “we are strongly advocating that all members of our healthcare team lead by example by receiving the vaccine,” said business development and marketing manager Cristal Gonzalez by email.

Huntington Hospital officials said it has been at the forefront of providing health care workers early access to the vaccine and went on to help vaccinate the community at a hospital clinic and community pop-up sites in underserved areas.

The small number of employees and physicians who are not vaccinated will follow the mandate of testing twice a week, and care teams will continue to strictly adhere to its PPE policies and code of conduct, said Helen Macfie, senior vice president and chief transformation officer