Amador County – Last year, the California Department of Public Health announced that California hospitals have reached the goal of vaccinating 60 percent of their health care employees against influenza. Last week, Sutter Amador Hospital in Jackson exceeded that goal itself by vaccinating 80 percent of its healthcare employees.

Jody Boetzer, public relations coordinator at Sutter Amador Hospital, announced the developments last Wednesday.

SAH Employee Health and Disaster Coordinator Joyce Friday said: “We’ve been working hard to increase employee vaccination rates through education and ensuring that vaccination clinics are easily accessible for all employees.”

She said: “We even increased our vaccination rate by 4 percent from the previous year. This means Sutter Amador Hospital is a safer place for patients, visitors, volunteers and hospital staff during flu season.”

Boetzer said “California law requires hospitals to offer onsite influenza vaccination free of charge to employees. Employees can opt not to get vaccinated, but must do so with a written declination.”

Friday said the hospital encourages “all hospital employees, volunteers and physicians to receive the influenza vaccination.”

To ensure the safety of patients and workers, SAH also requires staff to complete an annual TB test. In addition to TB testing and influenza vaccinations, the hospital also screens all employees for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox immunity. If no immunity exists, they offer free vaccinations to the employee.

Due to the increase in cases of Pertussis (Whooping Cough) in the United States over the last four years, SAH now also offers Tdap vaccinations to all staff and physicians.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.