RWJBarnabas Becomes 2nd Major NJ Health System To Require Vaccine

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Monday, RWJBarnabas Health announced it will be requiring all employees get the coronavirus vaccine by October 15.

"Non-compliance with this mandate will result in separation from the organization," warned the hospital system, the second-largest healthcare system in the state of New Jersey.

The American Medical Association now says anyone who works in healthcare should be vaccinated against coronavirus. Also on Monday, the federal department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency to make the COVID vaccine mandatory for most of its employees who work directly in healthcare.

The news is expected, as RWJBarnabas said in mid-May that anyone in a supervisory capacity had be vaccinated, and said the mandate would eventually extend to all staff members.

On July 20, RWJBarnabas announced six supervisors who refused to get the vaccine had been fired. "Supervisory" means any doctor, nurse or hospital administrator who has a supervisory title.

The names of those six individuals cannot be revealed by the healthcare system, citing employee confidentiality.

Earlier this July, New Jersey's largest hospital system, Hackensack Meridian Health, announced the vaccine will be required for all employees. Hackensack Meridian gave their employees a deadline of November 1.

In addition, all vendors and anyone who volunteers at RWJ will need to show proof of vaccine. The deadline for full vaccination and completion of the second dose is October 15. That is the last day hospital employees can book their second shot.

According to RWJBarnabas, since they launched the mandate in May, it has been met "with great success."

"As a result, the vast majority of the management team has been vaccinated against COVID-19," said the hospital system. "As of July 14, 2,979 staff members, or 99.7 percent, who are at the supervisor level and above, have been fully vaccinated or received medical and religious exemptions or a deferral."

“It is critical that all people in the healthcare workforce get vaccinated against COVID-19 for the safety of our patients and our colleagues,” said Dr. Susan Bailey, the immediate past president of the American Medical Association. “With more than 300 million doses administered in the United States and nearly 4 billion doses administered worldwide, we know the vaccines are safe and highly effective at preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19. Increased vaccinations among health care personnel will not only reduce the spread of COVID-19 but also reduce the harmful toll this virus is taking within the health care workforce and those we are striving to serve.”

“It is critically important for our entire RWJBarnabas Health family to be vaccinated,” said Dr. John Bonamo, chief medial and quality officer at RWJBarnabas Health. “As healthcare workers and team members, we are obligated ethically and professionally to do everything we can to keep our patients and colleagues safe. This obligation is not met if unvaccinated staff are treating and interacting with our patients, or are at risk of spreading COVID-19 to each other."

COVID-19 vaccination prevents serious illness, hospitalization and death.

Since mass vaccination began, there has been a sharp decrease in COVID-related fatalities and deaths.

RWJBarnabas owns and operates 13 hospitals across the state, and many satellite offices. They own:

• Jersey City Medical Center
• Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
• Children's Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel
• Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville
• Saint Barnabas Medical Center and Burn Unit, Livingston
• Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center, main campus in New Brunswick
• RWJ Rahway
• RWJ Somerset
• RWJ Hamilton
• Children's Specialized Hospital, New Brunswick
• Bristol Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at RWJUH New Brunswick
• Monmouth Medical Center (all campuses) and its children's hospital
• Community Medical Center in Toms River

Related: COVID-19 Vaccines Mandated For All Hackensack Meridian Staff (July 16)

6 RWJBarnabas Employees Fired For Refusing COVID Vaccine(July 20)

If any of these six former RWJBarnabas employees would like to talk to Patch, they can reach this reporter directly and confidentially at carly.baldwin@patch.com.

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