Cordell Memorial Hospital was named among 32 Oklahoma hospitals and hospital specialty units that have met a challenge from the Oklahoma Hospital Association to achieve a health care worker influenza vaccination rate of 96% or higher during the 2021- 2022 flu season.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Influenza places a substantial burden on the health of people in the United States each year. CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9.2 million and 35.6 million illnesses, between 140,000 and 710,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths annually since 2010.”
“And the risk of complications from influenza is higher among the types of people who are admitted to our hospitals,” said LaWanna Halstead, vice president of quality and clinical initiatives, Oklahoma Hospital Association. “These hospitals have developed policies and processes that ensure their patients and employees are protected.”
Hospitalized patients are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of influenza because their immune systems are often compromised by the illness that caused their admission or by the treatments they are undergoing.
Vaccination of health care personnel has been shown to prevent illness and death in patients and reduce influenza and absenteeism. The CDC has recommended annual vaccination of health care personnel since 1984.
Several key national professional organizations have endorsed mandatory policies for influenza vaccination as a condition of employment within health care facilities, including the American Hospital Association. In 2011, the Oklahoma Hospital Association board of trustees developed a position statement urging mandatory influenza policies.
Hospitals and units achieving the 96% vaccination rate are: Arbuckle Memorial Hospital, Sulphur;Bethany Children’s Health Center; Cordell Memorial Hospital; Duncan Regional Hospital; Duncan Regional Hospital - Inpatient Rehabilitation; Fairview Regional Medical Center; Hillcrest Hospital Cushing; Hillcrest Hospital Pryor; Jefferson County Hospital, Waurika; Lawton Indian Hospital; McAlester Regional Health Center; Mercy Health Love County, Marietta; Mercy Hospital Ada; Mercy Hospital Ada - Inpatient Behavioral Health; Mercy Hospital Ada - Inpatient Rehabilitation; Mercy Hospital Ardmore - Senior Behavioral Health Unit; Mercy Hospital Kingfisher; Mercy Hospital Logan County, Guthrie; Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City; Mercy Hospital Tishomingo; Mercy Hospital Watonga; Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Oklahoma City; Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Oklahoma City South; Okeene Municipal Hospital; Oklahoma Heart Hospital, Oklahoma City; Oklahoma Heart Hospital South, Oklahoma City; Share Medical Center, Alva; Stillwater Medical Blackwell; Stillwater Medical Center; Stillwater Medical Perry; Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital; and Weatherford Regional Hospital.