Vaccine Mandate Reinstated For Sarasota Memorial Workers

SARASOTA, FL — After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for medical facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid Thursday, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System will reinstate its vaccine mandate for all employees.

In the same ruling, the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s mandate that private employers with 100 or more employees require their staff to get the vaccine or get tested for coronavirus weekly. Twenty-seven states sued to stop the law from taking effect.

“We are moving forward with our vaccine policy in order to protect the safety of our patients, our staff and remain in compliance with federal regulations,” Kim Savage, a spokesperson for SMHCS said.

Following guidance provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in December, SMH’s goal is that all staff will have at least one vaccine dose or a pending or approved exemption or temporary delay request by Jan. 27, she said.

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Sarasota Memorial will have “100 (percent) compliance with all of the parameters of the rule by Feb. 28,” Savage added. “We have heard there may be further guidance on those dates.”

As of Friday afternoon, at least 86 percent of SMHCS employees are vaccinated.

Last year, the health care system implemented a vaccine mandate for its workers to comply with the federal requirement. They paused the mandate as the U.S. Supreme Court case moved forward.

During this pause, Sarasota Memorial worked one-on-one with its unvaccinated staff members and held a number of vaccination events for employees, Savage said.