CRH steps back from workforce vaccine mandate plan

Columbus Regional Health is putting plans on hold to require all employees, volunteers and others affiliated with the hospital be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Under a mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, all members of the workforce were originally required to receive their single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the first dose of the Moderna and Pfizer two-dose vaccines by December 5th. However, court cases have put that mandate on hold.

Kelsey DeClue, spokeswoman for the hospital, said yesterday that due to the current legal injunctions against the CMS mandate, CRH is suspending its compliance efforts..

She said the health system continues to encourage vaccination among its workforce. However, the hospital has suspended efforts to mandate and track workforce vaccination status.

DeClue said that should the injunction against CMS be overturned, the health system will resume its previous efforts to comply with the mandate.

She said the hospital continues to closely monitor the situation and is committed to “safety for our patients, employees and the community.”