State forces nurses to receive flu shots

Sara L. Rombough, a registered nurse for 25 years, will lose her job in November if she refuses to get a flu shot.

The state Health Department is requiring that all direct care workers and those with whom they have contact be vaccinated for seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

"It's a condition of employment," the Massena Memorial Hospital employee said. "I'm not condemning Massena Memorial. It's just that we're being forced to take this against our will, without proof that the vaccine will even be effective."

A New York State Nurses Association spokesman said the regulation has angered health care workers across the state.

"Although we encourage registered nurses to get a vaccination, we believe it should not be mandatory," said Mark A. Genovese. "By itself, it's an extreme measure and it won't prevent the spread of influenza."

Mr. Genovese said the association has been trying to persuade the Health Department to give health care workers a choice about getting a shot.

Health Department spokeswoman Claudia S. Hutton said Friday that won't happen.

"The flu kills people every year. With voluntary vaccination rates, some hospitals get above 50 percent, some get 70 percent, and a lot of them get below 50 percent. What you want is herd immunity, and for that you need 95 percent," Ms. Hutton said. "When we go to the hospital, we don't want to come out with a different disease than we came in with."

Ms. Hutton said a mandatory flu shot policy has been discussed for years, and health officials decided its time had finally come. Only workers who cannot have a flu shot for documented medical reasons are exempt.

Officials at St. Lawrence County's hospitals said they must comply with the state regulation, even if it means losing staff.

"Those who refuse will be mandated to get the vaccination or they will not work," said Laura C. Shea, spokeswoman at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Ogdensburg.

The policy is the same at Canton-Potsdam Hospital, Potsdam, and Massena Memorial Hospital, hospital officials said. Policies are in the works at all three facilities for workers who cannot have flu shots for medical reasons.

Mrs. Shea said it's unlikely that so many workers would be dismissed that staffing levels are affected.

"If we had a shortage of workers for some reason, other hospitals might be able to provide mutual assistance and send workers to help out," she said.

Krista A. Kittle, spokeswoman at Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, did not address specific questions about whether employees would be dismissed, saying only that the hospital will "work closely with staff members to address each situation on an individual basis to ensure that every possible step is taken to be in compliance."

Only about half of health-care workers get flu shots during a typical flu season, even though their patients tend to be more vulnerable to infection and potentially life-threatening complications. Concern is spiking this year because of the H1N1 virus.

The Hospital Corp. of America, known as HCA, in Nashville, is requiring about 120,000 employees in 163 hospitals, 112 outpatient clinics and other facilities in 20 states to get vaccinated.

For smaller hospitals, the decision to dismiss workers who refuse to get the vaccine might not be cut and dried. Charles P. Conole, administrator of E.J. Noble Hospital, Gouverneur, said staffing levels have to be considered. The hospital is still deciding how to deal with workers who refuse flu shots, he said.

"We're in a rural area where we don't have an abundance of skilled health-care workers. We're going to comply, but we're going to look at all our alternatives. The bottom line is that at the end of the day we have to meet our patient care needs," Mr. Conole said.

Health care workers can e-mail comments about the regulation to the state Health Department at regsqna@health. state.ny.us.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.