Tampa Bay Hospitals Respond To Biden Order To Vaccinate Employees

TAMPA, FL — Two of Tampa Bay biggest hospital groups announced they will require all physicians and hospital staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

In a statement released Friday, Tampa General Hospital said it plans to comply with the presidential executive order requiring mandatory vaccines for all health care workers. BayCare Health announced Thursday its plans to meet the presidential mandate.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden imposed stringent new vaccine rules for all federal workers, large employers and health care staff in an attempt to contain the latest surge of COVID-19 cases.

The new requirements would apply to nearly two-thirds of the American workforce.

"We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us," Biden said during a speech. He said the 80 million Americans who have not been vaccinated are fueling the spread of the delta variant of the virus and paving the way for new, more-resistant variants to emerge.

"While America is in much better shape than it was seven months ago when I took office, I need to tell you a second fact: We're in a tough stretch and it could last for awhile," Biden said.

The mandate would apply to all health care facilities that receive provide federal Medicare and Medicaid services, which employ about 17 million health care workers.

In response to the presidential order, BayCare, which runs 14 hospitals in the Tampa Bay area, said it will follow the new federal rules with some hesitation.

“We respect the decision made by our elected official, and BayCare will take the necessary action to comply,” said Chief Executive Officer Tommy Inzina in an announcement on BayCare's website.

BayCare is now caring for 1,100 COVID-19 patients, 40 percent more than the hospitals treated during the pandemic's peak in 2020.

Inzina said he's been asked why BayCare didn't mandate vaccinations for employees earlier.

"I would like to address that," he said. "I am CEO of BayCare, West Central Florida’s largest health care system. Like every major health care system in the country, we are on record encouraging everyone who is eligible to obtain the vaccine. It is safe and effective and it is saving lives. That’s why I want every one of BayCare’s 28,029 team members to get vaccinated: To ensure they don’t suffer severe complications or even death from COVID, or spread it to their families and friends. It will also ensure a healthy workforce available for the community’s health care needs."

At the same time, he said the hospital group has been struggling to retain health care workers during the pandemic and was concerned that vaccine mandates would result in resignations at a time when the hospitals can't spare workers.

"As the region’s largest provider of health care, BayCare has faced a conundrum," Inzina said. "As much as we would like to mandate the vaccine for our team members, in this moment with the strain on our team, we believed a mandate could have a negative impact on health care access for our community."

Like the community at large that has a certain population opposed to vaccines, 44 percent of employees have opted not to get the vaccine.

"Mandating the vaccine will lead to a higher staff vaccination rate, but it remains unknown how many health care workers it will prompt to leave the industry," he said. "In recent months, as our hospitals filled with record numbers of sick patients, we knew we risked alienating a not-insignificant number of our team members. If even a small fraction of our non-vaccinated team members choose to exit the workforce rather than get vaccinated, we’d have even fewer team members to take care of patients, COVID or otherwise."

In its statement, Tampa General Hospital said 74 percent of its health care workers have been vaccinated since Sept. 6 and plans to comply with the presidential executive order related to mandatory vaccines for all team members and physicians of TGH and its affiliates.

"Since December 2020, Tampa General Hospital has consistently urged all team members and physicians to be vaccinated against COVID-19," said the hospital in its statement. "We have worked diligently to provide evidence-based information and to make the vaccine accessible to everyone who works for Tampa General. TGH is aware that The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is developing an interim final rule around the vaccination requirement announced by the Biden-Harris Administration. Tampa General will continue to educate on the importance of the vaccine and make it readily available for all of our team members. As with everything, the safety and care of our patients, team members and community is our No. 1 priority."

TGH's statement did not address the potential loss of employees due to the mandate.

AdventHealth has yet to react to the presidential order but, in a news release issued Thursday, the hospital said it is seeing a decrease in the number of coronavirus patients, prompting AdventHealth's Central Florida hospitals to resume some elective surgeries.

“We’ve effectively dropped about 30-40 percent,” said Dr. Sanjay Pattani, associate chief medical officer of AdventHealth Orlando and executive medical director of the health care system’s Mission Control. “We’re on the backend of the peak.”

AdventHealth's West Florida Division, which includes 11hospitals in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, is currently caring for more than 600 COVID-19 patients.

Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he does not support hospitals requiring staff to be vaccinated but said he's not inclined to ban hospitals from requiring employees to be vaccinated.

“It's not something I support,” DeSantis said during a news conference at Tampa General Hospital.

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