COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

All clinical and non-clinical employees of Arkansas Hospice, Arkansas Hospice Foundation and Arkansas Palliative Care are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or be approved for a medical or religious exemption.

In summary, this is what the vaccine requirement means to you:

IIMPORTANT NOTE: Employees who have already been fully vaccinated do not need to resubmit proof of vaccination to Human Resources (HR). If you have already been vaccinated but have not provided proof of vaccination to HR yet, you must provide proof of the first dose by 9:00 a.m. on January 5, 2022 and the second dose by 9:00 a.m. on February 2, 2022.

FIRST VACCINATION DEADLINE

J&J or 1^st dose of Pfizer/Moderna by January 4, 2022, with proof of vaccination provided to HR by 9:00 a.m. on January 5, 2022.
Medical or religious exemption requests must be submitted to HR in writing with all required documentation. See Policy 263 for details. Employees who have a condition that qualifies for a temporary delay in accordance with CMS guidelines must complete an exemption request form and submit it to HR.

SECOND VACCINATION DEADLINE

J&J or 2nd dose of Pfizer/Moderna by February 1, 2022, with proof of vaccination provided to HR by 9:00 a.m. on February 2, 2022.
Medical or religious exemption requests must be submitted to HR in writing with all required documentation. See Policy 263 for details. Employees who have a condition that qualifies for a temporary delay in accordance with CMS guidelines must complete an exemption request form and submit it to HR. Exemptions approved for Vaccination #1 do not have to be resubmitted unless they were time limited.
Employees who have not provided proof of vaccination to HR by 9:00 a.m. on February 2, 2022 or who do not have an approved exemption will be terminated effective February 2, 2022. Employees terminated for failure to comply with this vaccination mandate will not receive PTO payout; in addition, they will not be eligible for rehire unless they provide proof of vaccination or receive an approved

PROOF OF VACCINATION

Proof of vaccination for all deadlines may include a CDC COVID-19 vaccination record card or a legible photo of the card, documentation from a health care provider or an electronic health record, or a State immunization information system record. Proof may be submitting to HR through the following:

By FAX – 501-748-3490
By EMAIL – humanresourcesdepartment@arkansashospice.org
By FORCURA – Please send to Human Resources user group

Medical

Exemption Form

Religious

Exemption Form

HR Policy

263

Summary of deadlines

December 10, 2021 – Target date for HR to respond to all individual exemption requests
January 4, 2022 – J&J or 1^st dose of Pfizer/Moderna
January 5, 2022 – Proof of J&J or 1^st dose of Pfizer/Moderna vaccination submitted to HR by 9:00 a.m.
February 1, 2022 – J&J or 2nd dose of Pfizer/Moderna
February 2, 2022 – Proof of J&J or 2nd dose of Pfizer/Moderna vaccination submitted to HR by 9:00 a.m.

Vaccine location resources

Please visit the Arkansas Department of Heath website located here:

https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/covid-19-map-of-1-a-pharmacy-locations

If you scroll down on the above page, you will see a table listing every single pharmacy in the state with vaccines. You can sort this page by city or even just type in the name of the pharmacy you want to use to see if it is there.

You can also use the site here to find a particular vaccine if you prefer one over another:

https://www.vaccines.gov/search/

Type in your zip code and click which vaccine you are looking for, hit the SEARCH button and you will receive a list of every pharmacy in that area with that particular vaccine!

If you are having reservations about receiving the vaccine, please visit the following:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html

Following is the vaccine requirement communication from Arkansas Hospice President & CEO Judy Wooten:

Dear Arkansas Hospice Family,

As you know, on November 29^th, a federal judge in Missouri issued an injunction delaying the CMS vaccination mandate in 10 states, including Arkansas. Yesterday, a federal judge in Louisiana issued a similar injunction covering all states not included in the first order. Prior to these injunctions, the OSHA mandate for employers with 100 or more employees was also put on hold. It is impossible to know when these lawsuits will be settled or what the outcome will be, but the belief is that some form of mandate for healthcare providers or other employers will survive these challenges.

Given the uncertainty of this situation, and after considering multiple options, we have made the decision to proceed with requiring Covid-19 vaccination for all employees, but in a more reasonable timeframe and manner than were required by the CMS mandate. We do not make this decision lightly, but we believe it is the right decision for many reasons, including:

Our mission is to care for the most vulnerable in a loving, compassionate, and safe manner.
We care for you, our valued employees, just as much as we care for our patients.
Since February 1, 2021, 85.9% of covid cases, 87.9% of covid-related hospitalizations, and 85.9% of covid-related deaths in Arkansas have been in unvaccinated people.
The covid virus continues to mutate and spawn variants that are more transmissible and potentially more deadly.
Many of our partner facilities have instituted vaccination mandates for their employees independent of the CMS mandate and are requiring our staff who enter their facilities to be vaccinated. In addition, many families are requesting that unvaccinated staff not come to their homes. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure that vaccinated staff are available to make these visits. Covering for unvaccinated staff who have to quarantine due to exposure continues to be a challenge as well.
If either the CMS mandate or the OSHA mandate is reinstated, we will be required to comply, and the timeframes may be extremely short, so we would rather move forward now, at our own pace, and give each of you who are still not vaccinated time to make the right decision for you, than be forced to implement an externally imposed mandate again on very short notice.
If you choose not to get vaccinated, this will also give you the opportunity to look for other employment, and us additional time to hire replacement staff to ensure continuity of our care and service.

For all these reasons and more, we are implementing the following extended timeline for all employees to get vaccinated. We will discuss the exemption process below.

All employees must receive the first dose of a two-dose vaccine (i.e., Pfizer or Moderna) or one dose of a single-dose vaccine (i.e., Johnson & Johnson) by January 4, 2022, and provide proof of vaccination to Human Resources by January 5, 2022.
All employees must receive the second dose of a two-dose vaccine by February 1, 2022, and provide proof of vaccination to Human Resources by February 2, 2022.

In order to plan for staffing, employees who miss the first deadline and who have not been granted an exemption will be required to meet with their supervisor to discuss their plan for either vaccination or resignation prior to the second deadline. Employees in this circumstance will not be placed on unpaid leave, as was required by the CMS mandate. Employees who have not received all required doses of a vaccine and provided proof of vaccination to HR by February 2, 2022, or been granted an exemption, will be terminated.

Please note that if either the CMS or the OSHA mandate is reinstated with earlier deadlines or different requirements, Arkansas Hospice will have no choice but to comply with those deadlines and requirements.

With respect to exemptions, all employees who requested a medical or religious exemption by the November 24^th deadline will receive an email in response to their exemption request by Friday, December 10, 2021.

We want you, your patients, and your co-workers to be healthy and safe. And we need each of you to help us fulfill our mission of caring in your community. My fervent prayer is that you will choose to get vaccinated and remain a part of the Arkansas Hospice Family so we can continue this special mission together.

Please note that the Town Halls scheduled for today and tomorrow will continue; however, the topic will be changed to cover this vaccination requirement.

Yours in service,

Judy