OHIO — Dozens of hospitals in Ohio have given employees deadlines to get vaccinated following the Ohio Hospital Association’s recommendation last week that immunization should be mandatory for hospital staff.

​​The major central Ohio hospitals announced vaccine requirements in unison, joined by groups of Cincinnati hospitals and Dayton-area hospitals. In the Cleveland-area, however, the three major hospital systems have not made vaccination mandatory at this time. 

Officials at hospitals that have enacted mandates said required vaccination will offer added protection for patients, whose medical conditions make them more vulnerable to coronavirus. 

“Our priorities are to take care of our community, to take care of our patients and to take care of our staff, and we need our staff healthy to take care of our patients,” Premier Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marc Belcastro said in an interview. “It’s both ways, protecting staff from the patients and vice versa.”

Announcements of vaccine requirements have drawn criticism from nurses’ unions in Ohio, which are demanding to be involved in the decision-making process. 

The Ohio Nurses Association raised concern that mandating vaccines without union negotiations will result in a worsened labor shortage at a time when hospitals are seeing heightened COVID-19 patient counts. 

Belcastro said officials at Premier Health, a southwest Ohio health system, understand that some employees may choose to leave health care over the mandate. But he said staffing concerns were outweighed by the safety risks of having unvaccinated staff caring for patients. Additionally, there could be potential staffing challenges with COVID-19 sidelining unvaccinated health care workers.

On Wednesday afternoon, a few dozen demonstrators protested hospital vaccine requirements in Columbus across the street from OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, cheering as drivers honked their car horns. 

Demonstrators held signs that said “Vaccine freedom for frontline workers” while others called for state legislation to prohibit vaccine mandates. Earlier Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators objected to vaccine mandates in Miamisburg, Ohio outside Kettering Health’s headquarters, according to local media reports. More protests are scheduled in the coming weeks.

The American Medical Association and American Hospital Association, among the national organizations in support of vaccine mandates for hospitals, this week said about 1,500 U.S. hospitals announced vaccination requirements. 

Belcastro said Premier Health saw a tenfold increase in COVID-19 hospitalization in July – serving as a convincing argument that the requirement was important. 

Which Ohio hospitals are requiring vaccination? Here are the latest policies: 

By the end of the year, employees at OhioHealth, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital must be fully vaccinated, the hospitals announced on Aug. 3.

Mount Carmel employees were the first in the region to face a vaccine requirement. Trinity Health announced on July 8 a nationwide requirement for its 117,000 employees, including about 12,000 Mount Carmel employees. They have until Sept. 21 to submit proof that they are fully vaccinated.

Nationwide Children's said all employees must get the vaccine before Oct. 1. At the Wexner Medical Center, the deadline is Oct. 15. OhioHealth’s deadline is Dec. 1.

None of the major hospitals in Cleveland have announced vaccine requirements for staff. 

Instead, hospitals said they are strongly encouraging their employees to get vaccinated. 

At Metro Health, nearly 80% of the staff has voluntarily been vaccinated, spokesperson Dorsena Drakeford said. 

“We continue to carefully monitor the incidence of COVID-19 and vaccination rates among our employees and in our community. We are reviewing the updated guidance and recommendations and hope to make a determination soon,” Drakeford said. 

(AP Photo, Jessica Hill, File)

The Cleveland Clinic is providing education to its caregivers about the benefits of vaccination and making it convenient for employees to get the shot, spokesperson Alana Wyche said. “As the pandemic evolves, we will continue to monitor the situation,” she added.

University Hospitals said that employees who do not get vaccinated are required to wear masks and practice distancing. 

“Right now, COVID-19 vaccines are strongly encouraged, but not mandatory for University Hospitals employees,” University Hospitals spokesperson George Stamatis said. “These current practices continue to be effective for the protection of employees and patients throughout the pandemic. We continue to carefully monitor the incidence of COVID-19 and vaccination rates among our employees and in our community to help guide any future changes to our vaccination policy.”

Kettering Health Network and Dayton Children's are mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for medical staff by October and Premier Health is requiring immunization by December, the health systems announced last week. 

Hospital officials said they made the decision due to the rising case numbers and concerns over the delta variant. Dayton Children’s said staff vaccination will protect its unvaccinated youth patients.

 “With the recent surge in COVID cases across the country, we must go further to protect our nation’s children,” officials said. “They cannot protect themselves. We must do it for them.”

The Health Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati announced on Aug. 5 that Cincinnati health systems are requiring vaccination for their staff members.

Christ Hospital, UC Health, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, TriHealth and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital are requiring full vaccination by October. 

TriHealth said its vaccine requirement is necessary due to the spread of the delta variant, including a rise in infections among its unvaccinated staff members. Mark Clement, president of the health system, is hopeful they will get near full compliance with the mandate, he said during a news conference last week. 

Clement cited Houston Methodist’s experience as the first major U.S. health system to require vaccination, resulting in about 25,000 vaccinated staff members and only about 150 terminations. 

Cincinnati Children’s said requiring its 16,600 employees to get vaccinated will protect the health system’s staff members and patients, many of whom are too young to get vaccinated. 

Christ Hospital stressed that its COVID-19 vaccine requirement is consistent with its policies for other immunizations, including required seasonal flu shots. 

(Spectrum News, Pete Grieve, File)

The Newark-based health system, which employs more than 2,000 people, announced Wednesday it will require full vaccination within 60 days of full FDA approval of a vaccine. 

“With the highly infectious variants and cases rising once again in Ohio, it is vital to add the vaccine requirement to continue our mission of improving the health of the community,” President Rob Montagnese said in a press release. 

Mercy Health spokesperson Carol Billingsley – with the health system with the largest presence in Ohio – said vaccination policies currently vary based on market. 

In the Cincinnati-area, vaccination is required with a fall deadline, but vaccine requirements have not been announced for the other Mercy hospitals and facilities in Ohio. 

“Each of our markets is subject to many variables that affect the pandemic and our response, considering factors such as population density, vaccination levels in the community and the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant,” Billingsley said.

The Toledo-based health system is not requiring vaccination at this time, spokesperson Tausha Moore said. 

She said vaccination is strongly encouraged and stressed they will continue to monitor the situation to determine if a change to the policy should be made in the future. 

The Akron-based health system announced a vaccine requirement last week, setting an Oct. 31 deadline for employees to be fully vaccinated, spokesperson Mike Bernstein said. 

Summa Health has processes for people to request medical and religious exemptions, Bernstein said.

Employees at the 248-bed hospital in Portsmouth have until Sept. 17 to get fully vaccinated, according to a statement from the medical center last week. 

“It’s important for everyone in our community that we set the example by being vaccinated,” pulmonologist Dr. Elie Saab said in the statement.

The deadline for full vaccination status is Dec. 1 for employees at Knox Community Hospital’s facilities in Mount Vernon and the nearby area. 

The hospital cited recommendations for required vaccination for hospital employees from numerous state and national health organizations.