St. Charles Health System announced most of its employees were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday, when Gov. Kate Brown’s vaccine mandate for school and health care workers went into effect.
The health system reported that 93.5% of its caregivers were fully vaccinated, with 51 caregivers recently receiving their first shot. About 4,300 caregivers work for St. Charles at locations in Bend, Madras, Redmond, Prineville, Sisters and La Pine.
Caregivers could request either a medical or religious exception to the rule. Of the 84 medical exception requests, just five were approved. Another 17 were denied and 62 were incomplete, meaning applicants failed to complete and turn in the required forms.
Even more caregivers applied for religious exceptions. Of the 271 requests, 211 were approved, five were denied and 55 were incomplete. Exceptions, if granted, accommodate caregivers with remote work or put them on an unpaid leave of absence. St. Charles said 49 people will move to remote work and 101 will be put on unpaid leave. The other 98 opted to start their vaccination series. But in a time when adequate staffing is already an issue, the number of those leaving the system is staggering: 180 caregivers left St. Charles over the past month—134 in the week before the Oct. 18 deadline.
“We can’t be certain how many of those 180 caregivers left the organization because of the mandate,” said Rebecca Berry, Vice President of Human Resources at St. Charles Health System in a press release. “But we believe most of those who left us last week were impacted by this rule.”
The exodus exacerbates an already under-staffed workforce. Among those leaving, 111 worked full time, 18 were part time and 50 were relief workers not assigned regular shifts. St. Charles currently has 940 open positions, though 200 positions are in the process of being filled.
“We are grateful to the overwhelming majority of our caregivers who made the decision to get vaccinated, protecting themselves, their patients and our community,” said Dr. Jeff Absalon, the health system’s chief physician executive. “But we also recognize that our caregivers had a choice and we respect each person no matter what decision they made. We sincerely thank those caregivers for their service, especially throughout the pandemic. This hasn’t been an easy time for any of us.”
There were two separate protests of vaccine mandates in Bend on Monday, one at St. Charles and one at Mountain View High School.
To fill the open positions St. Charles raised its minimum wage to $18 starting Oct. 31 and says it is aggressively recruiting. Oregon National Guard troops have been aiding the health system as it works through its staffing shortage, but the 80 soldiers plan to depart at the end of the month.
This article appears in Oct 20-27, 2021.
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Raising the starting pay to just $18 an hour is not enough. SCMC can afford to do better. Administrative salaries remain way high and none of those people directly care for patients. As for the overall shortage, it is happening in hospitals across the country. SCMC is not unique in that respect. Workers are finding some power and leverage to boost their living standards. More power to them. –Michael Funke
Bye, bye…you should not be working with the vulnerable at a hospital. Don’t let the door hit you in the door on the way out. Good riddance.
Good, glad they are gone. If I go to the hospital I do NOT want anyone who is not vaccinated near me. Bye, bye, don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.
WJ… Maybe you want to read up on the vaccine and do some research, the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting Covid or spreading it, vaccines usually takes 7 to 10 years to approve not nine months.
Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer or Madura yet to distribute information to everybody what the side effects are going to be down the road, they know, they’re not telling you though, I have a doctor, and three RNs in my family!!!
You see drugs being put out on the market all the time in commercials and at the end of the commercial they tell you what the side effects are, you notice there’s no commercial about the vaccines and the side effects is there?
Big Pharma is not reporting the deaths because of the “ jab“
Before you start telling people who went to school for years to become doctors an RN good riddance, you better do your homework only a moron would take that stupid vaccine
The Nazis did this back in World War II, they use the Jews as Laboratory rats like they’re doing to Americans, Kate Brown an idiot, it is unconstitutional, it’s in the constitution you cannot vaccinate somebody if they don’t want to be!!!
You’re not even allowed to mask a child in school that’s unconstitutional
The Democratic Party is The marxist/communist party,
The vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting Covid or spreading it.
Biden such an idiot he’s telling everybody you won’t get Covid if you get the shot!!
That is a lie but then again everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie
70% of Covid patients already had the vaccine, Colin Powell had three shots!!
You don’t get it yet? the vaccinated are the
Spreaders now.
Those who had Covid, Their immune system is armed against Covid, they won’t get it again.
By the way there’s been more Covid deaths this year than last year with the vaccine, isn’t that interesting?
It is difficult to accept that our hospital, like those across the country is understaffed. Despite this I feel that a scientific institution such as a hospital should be staffed by individuals with some basic understanding of science. Over 96% of physicians are vaccinated. From what I have heard about behind the scenes recordings at Fox News I suspect the numbers are similar there. Perhaps those leaving health care can staff Dairy Queen. I am sure those willing to give up their jobs have strong beliefs and they certainly have the right to choose not to vaccinate but they should not be part of a scientific institution and certainly not caring for sick people.
Diane, nobody is telling anybody to not get vaccinated that should be your choice, and the science says, that being the CDC, that the vaccination does not stop you from getting Covid or spreading it, In fact you can still die from Covid, that’s a scientific fact, 70% of the hospitalized Covid cases the people were vaccinated!!
Mandating this Vaccine is unconstitutional,
The Nuremberg act of 1947 prohibits forced vaccinations on American citizens,
Yet all the front line nurses last year
Just got fired because they didn’t want the vaccination, that is BS, why is it democratic states are the only states that are mandating this vaccination?
Police are leaving the state and getting jobs in red states, just like the nurses are going to do, We have enough homeless people to fill up the Dairy Queens and the rest of the menial jobs in Bend but they’re too damn lazy to go to work they rather get drunk and high all day.
take a look at Dr. Fauci‘s track record of using the term science, he flip-flops all the time, bashes ivermectin, which in 2015 got a major award?
My daughter just had Covid, I happen to stock up on pharmaceutical ivermectin and an assortment of vitamins and she Was Covid free in 4 days
But the liberal mainstream media is calling it A horse tranquilizer LMAO!!
They been using ivermectin since 1996 for human use, Why did all the hospitals remove the Use if ivermectin, and local pharmacist won’t sell ivermectin anymore, or Hydroxyqloriquin?
When a few months ago you could buy the hell out of it!!
Think about it why would they want you to use a 60 year old drug that works, Follow the money
The virologist that came up with the Covid vaccine, just recently said the vaccine was For emergency use only, not handed out like candy, just an FYI.