PSU Health to require COVID vaccine, meaning 2 of area’s 3 major health systems have announced mandate
Penn State Health announced Monday that all employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID by Dec. 8, meaning two of Centre County’s three major health care providers have now announced mandates for the vaccine.
Geisinger told employees in late August they would need to be vaccinated by Nov. 1. Mount Nittany Health, which operates the county’s only hospital, has not yet publicly announced any mandate — although federal guidelines say hospitals that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement must soon require the vaccine among employees.
“Like all healthcare systems, Mount Nittany Health is under a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate and is awaiting guidelines from the federal government regarding the details of the mandate to ensure we will be in full compliance,” Mount Nittany Health told the CDT in a written statement. “A significant majority of our staff have already been vaccinated and we continue to vaccinate staff and community members each day.
“We are committed to the health, safety and well-being of our community and encourage everyone who is eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and those who were vaccinated already to get booster shots.”
Mount Nittany Health declined to share its employee vaccination rate with the CDT.
Penn State Health’s new vaccine requirement stems from the university’s latest efforts to comply with two pandemic-related executive orders from President Joe Biden. Because Penn State holds about 1,000 federal contracts worth more than $500 million, it is beholden to new contractor guidelines that essentially require all full- and part-time employees at a particular campus or location to get vaccinated.
So far, Penn State has extended such employee mandates to the following campuses: University Park, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, Harrisburg and Schuylkill. The College of Medicine and the Penn State Extension must also have all employees vaccinated by Dec. 8, unless they have religious or medical exemptions.
Across all campuses, Penn State boasts an employee vaccination rate of 82.6%.
“We are grateful that the substantial majority of our employees have chosen to get vaccinated,” Penn State Health CEO Steve Massini said in a written statement. “It is my sincere hope that those employees who have not yet been vaccinated will now choose to do so or seek an accommodation, so that we may seamlessly continue our mission of improving the health and well-being of the people of Pennsylvania.”
Citing studies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the vaccinated are 8 times less likely to be infected and 25 times less likely to experience hospitalization or death compared to the unvaccinated.
Nationally, more than 200 hospitals and health systems have so far mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for employees.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 5:14 PM.
