Mandatory flu shots aren't a deal-breaker for most medical staff

Mandatory influenza vaccination as a condition of employment did not cause healthcare workers to flee from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., according to a four-year analysis of vaccination rates. With the backing of hospital leadership, infection control and prevention specialists at Loyola worked with a multidisciplinary task force to develop a facilitywide policy that made flu vaccination a condition of employment. The medical center introduced the active declination system in 2008—practitioners were required by Employee Health to state “yes” or “no” when asked to be vaccinated and to provide reasons for why they declined the vaccine.

With the system in place, the center's overall vaccination rose to 72%, well above the CDC's goal of more than 60%. In 2009, Loyola became one of the first U.S. medical centers to make flu vaccination a condition of employment. During 2009, 99.2% of employees received the vaccine, 0.7% were exempted for religious/medical reasons, and 0.1% chose termination over vaccination. In 2012, 98.7% of employees vaccinated, 1.2% exempted and 0.06% refused. The analysis was presented earlier this week at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.