Legacy Health puts nearly 800 employees on unpaid leave for failing to comply

Legacy Health, one of the largest hospital and clinical providers in the Portland area, on Friday placed almost 800 Oregon and Washington employees on administrative leave because they failed to meet a Sept. 30 deadline to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

As a result, the hospital system said it would need to temporarily close services in some locations and consolidate services at other facilities to maintain effective patient care. Other health systems have yet to report their numbers, but vaccination rates among various licensed medical professionals vary widely across the state, show big geographic disparities and come on top of existing staffing shortages.

The move is among the first signs of the chaos that could ensue for hospitals and other care facilities as the Oct. 18 state-mandated deadline for all health care workers to be fully vaccinated approaches.

Following the Oregon mandate, Legacy on Aug. 4 announced a policy requiring all doctors, nurses, staffers, students, volunteers and vendors to complete their vaccination series by Sept. 30, as people are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after they complete a series.

Since the policy was announced, Legacy’s employee vaccination rate has jumped from 85% to 94%, as 1,300 additional employees got their first or second shot, the health system said in announcement on its website. Ryan Frank, a spokesman for Legacy, said Legacy has about 14,000 employees.

The announcement said a committee of spiritual care, ethics, primary care and infection prevention experts reviewed hundreds of requests for exceptions from employees but ultimately placed 794 who chose not to comply on unpaid leave beginning Friday. It said some 180 of those employees have started a series and will be able to return to work after they are fully vaccinated.

Employees who choose not to get vaccinated will be terminated Oct. 19, though they too will be eligible to return to work as soon as they are vaccinated, the announcement said.

“We appreciate the difficulty of this decision,” the announcement said. “We are grateful to them for their service to their communities.”

On its website, the health system outlined a series of steps it was taking to consolidate specific medical services at various locations. It also said it was considering further reducing non-emergency surgeries, finding other efficiencies, and creating opportunities for contract and temporary labor.

To see more data and trends, visit https://projects.oregonlive.com/coronavirus.

— Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger