92% of Huntington Hospital Staff Fully Vaccinated, Hospital Commits to Complying With New State Order for Healthcare Workers

Huntington Hospital said Monday it is committed to complying with Gov. Newsom’s order that healthcare workers be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and that it is studying how to ‘operationalize’ the mandate, while Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Regional Office in Pasadena announced it will make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all its employees and physicians.

Huntington Hospital’s Executive Director of Communications Eileen Neuwirth said that “like many other hospitals in California, we are exploring the best ways to operationalize this new order, including careful and thorough evaluation of medical and religious accommodations, while we continue to reinforce the importance of vaccination.”

To date, 92 percent of Huntington Hospital employees are fully vaccinated, according to Neuwirth.

On July 26 Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order requiring vaccinated state employees, health care workers and workers in high-risk congregate settings such as homeless shelters and jails, to show proof that they are fully vaccinated or they will have to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and wear appropriate PPEs.

Newsom, who made the order in a bid to encourage more workers to get vaccinated, has also urged businesses to adopt similar requirements for workers.

On Monday Kaiser Permanente, the country’s largest nonprofit healthcare organization, said it will make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory.

The Kaiser Permanente organization has more than 216,000 employees and more than 23,000 physicians. As of July 31, 77.8 percent of its employees and more than 95 percent of its physicians have been fully vaccinated, according to the organization.

“We must take action to stop this pandemic and get vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccines are scientifically proven to be safe and effective, dramatically reducing the risk of death and serious health outcomes if a person becomes infected,” Richard Isaacs, co-CEO of The Permanente Federation said.

“With Kaiser Permanente’s mandatory vaccination policy, we ensure that we are doing all we can to protect ourselves, each other, and those we serve from this deadly virus,” he added.

The new vaccination policy issued by the State for workers in hospital and congregate facilities will take effect on August 9.