HCA Healthcare, headquartered in Nashville, will reinstate the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for its medical professionals and hospital workers.
In compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding vaccine mandates for most health care workers, HCA is bringing back the policy. HCA owns 186 hospitals in 20 states, according to the Tennessean.
“Given the recent Supreme Court ruling, we will implement, in accordance with the CMS mandate rules, the requirement to vaccinate our health care workers who are covered by this policy, unless they qualify for an exemption,” Harlow Sumerford, an HCA spokesperson, told the Tennessean. “If we do not comply with the CMS mandate, we could compromise our ability to serve our communities and provide care to patients under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
The court called for a narrower mandate for health care workers at hospitals and facilities receiving funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Health facilities must ensure that their staff is vaccinated against COVID–19, but the mandate for large businesses of other types was blocked by the Supreme Court.
For a large portion of 2021, HCA required vaccines for its health care workers. About 90% of the company’s employees have been fully vaccinated or are approved for a medical or religious exemption, the Tennessean reported.
