St. Charles to caregivers: Get flu shot – or wear mask

In a move meant to boost flu vaccination rates among its caregivers and protect its patients, St. Charles Health System said Wednesday it has instituted a new policy that requires every caregiver to either receive a flu shot or wear a mask from Dec. 1 to March 31 — the peak of flu season.

“Other large health care facilities in Oregon that have moved to a masking policy have noted a great increase in their vaccination rates among health care providers,” said Dr. Rebecca Sherer, St. Charles’ medical director of infection prevention and control. “We’re following suit.”

All health system caregivers — including employed caregivers, licensed independent providers, contractors and all students — are required to receive a flu shot or sign a declination.

Caregivers who decline to get vaccinated, for medical reasons or otherwise, will be required to wear a mask at all times between Dec. 1 and March 31 while working in a hospital, clinic and even office setting.

Those caregivers who do get vaccinated will receive a sticker — a picture of a syringe — which they’re required to place above their photograph on their St. Charles identification badge.

Most other hospitals in Oregon also have a mandatory flu mask policy, which has become the standard for the health care industry, the hospital said in its announcement. The federal goal is that by 2020, 90 percent of health care workers in the country will receive the annual flu shot.

For the past several years, about 75 percent of St. Charles caregivers have been vaccinated, said Kari Coe, director of infection prevention and caregiver health.

“We need to get to 90 percent vaccination compliance,” she said. “It’s the national goal for all hospitals to meet by 2020, and we need to implement this policy this year in order to achieve that benchmark and maintain it. Many other hospitals across the country have also done this because that’s what it took.”

Influenza, or the flu, is a serious disease that leads to the death of more than 36,000 Americans every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If you’re an American and you die of an infectious disease, it’s more likely to be from the flu than anything else,” Sherer said. “It’s the top viral killer in our country.” Getting an annual flu shot, she added, “is the single best thing we can do to protect our patients. It’s our duty as health care workers to stand up and protect our patients from communicable diseases.”