An update from Alan Levine regarding the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate
Note: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Thursday, Nov. 11. Dear colleagues, As we all learned last week, pursuant to orders from President Joe Biden, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a new rule requiring that hospitals and other health care organizations which participate in Medicare and Medicaid require their physicians, team members, volunteers, students, interns, vendors and any other individual who may come into contact with other individuals within the work setting to become vaccinated by one of the approved COVID-19 vaccines. This means, beginning Jan. 4, all Ballad Health team members must be fully vaccinated, unless you have an approved medical or religious exemption. This new rule is far-reaching and the implications are very serious for hospitals and health systems. Non-compliance by hospitals will lead to significant fines and, ultimately, termination from federal health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Given that…