Healthcare Association of Hawaii supports COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers

The Healthcare Association of Hawaii today announced support for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination of healthcare workers — once full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug administration is granted and as long as exemptions are accommodated.

“Our Board voted overwhelmingly in support of this decision,” HAH President and CEO Hilton Raethel said in an announcement. “This is the right thing to do to protect patients, residents, and employees, as well as the entire community.”

The Association is the nonprofit trade association for Hawaii’s hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, home health agencies, and hospices. These organizations collectively employ more than 30,000 people across Hawaii.

The policy does not commit the individual HAH members to following it, but rather provides support for healthcare employers considering their own vaccination policies, said Wes Lo, a member of the HAH Board of Directors and chief executive officer of Ohana Pacific Health, which operates skilled nursing facilities across Hawaii.

Executives from Adventist Health Castle, Hawaii Pacific Health, Kaiser Permanente and the Queen’s Health Systems announced their own vaccine policies today.