• • Following a federal court decision to block the CMS vaccine mandate, AdventHealth suspends its own COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees.
  • Previously, AdventHealth had told employees that if they didn’t get vaccinated they could face suspension.
  • AdventHealth has more than 80,000 employees.

06 December 2021 | AdventHealth, a national network of health care facilities in the United States affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, announced it was suspending its COVID-19 vaccination requirements for staff, according to an article from OrlandoWeekly.com.

The AdventHealth system employs more than 80,000 people, has nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in nine states throughout the U.S.

AdventHealth made the announcement on Dec. 2, 2021, after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers on Nov. 30, 2021.

“Due to recent decisions by the federal courts to block the CMS vaccine mandate, we are suspending the vaccination requirements prescribed by this mandate,” said Morgan Shandler, director of communications for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, in a Kansas City Star article.

The CMS rule required health facilities to mandate all employees, volunteers and contractors to have a first vaccine dose by Dec. 6 and to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. Providers that failed to comply could lose access to Medicare and Medicaid funds. (Medicare serves people 65 and older and the disabled. Medicaid serves the poor.)

Previously, AdventHealth had said in a letter to employees that anyone who had not gotten an approved exemption or a first vaccine dose by Dec. 6 would face suspension, according to news station WKMG.

AdventHealth is still apparently an advocate for vaccination, though.

“Based on scientific evidence and what we see in our hospitals every day, COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at reducing both the risk of becoming infected and the level of harm in the case of a breakthrough infection,” AdventHealth said in a statement seen on the news site of WKMG.

“As part of our commitment to protecting the health and well-being of our team members, patients and communities, we strongly encourage all of our team members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”

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(Photo: AdventHealth, a national network of health care facilities in the United States affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, announced it was suspending its COVID-19 vaccination requirements for employees on Dec. 2, 2021. Photo by AdventHealth via orlandoweekly.com)

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