With Columbus hospitals announcing they will be requiring employees and staff to get vaccinated, Nationwide Children's Hospital is taking it a step further with incentives.
A spokesperson from Nationwide Children's said they will be giving out awards and recognition bonuses between $500 and $1,000 to employees who are fully vaccinated by October 1. Managers and providers that are credentialed as medical staff are not eligible for the bonus.
The spokesperson also added that the bonus is an additional way to acknowledge the work hospital employees have done during the pandemic.
"We know that this pandemic response has required a full One Team effort and we are looking at another challenging time ahead not only for COVID-19 but also RSV and flu," The hospital wrote in an email to its employees. "This is an opportunity for us to acknowledge this tremendous effort, especially for our front-line clinical teams."
The spokesperson also said employees who do not get vaccinated will not be terminated — like Mount Carmel announced for its employees last month — but will be required to wear masks all the time and won't be eligible for merit bonuses, though medical and religious exemptions can be requested.
Nationwide Children's also emailed its staff saying that to be eligible, they must be employed at least five months as of Dec. 1.
