IU Health Puts Unvaccinated Workers On Two-Week Suspension, Announces Temporary Hold On Elective Surgeries

All IU Health inpatient elective surgeries and procedures will be suspended starting Sept. 6. This comes after last week’s announcement that half of elective procedures would be suspended starting Aug. 30. IU Health attributed the decision to surging COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases. The suspension will be extended as needed on a rolling basis for two-week periods.

Ninety-seven percent of IU Health’s more than 34,000 employees complied by Monday’s deadline with the hospital system’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement, according to an IU Health spokesperson.

That means more than 1,000 employees did not get vaccinated. IU Health announced June 1 that those remaining unvaccinated would be suspended for two weeks without pay.

An emailed statement from IU Health said, as of Tuesday, “fewer than 300 team members have been suspended. Team members are allowed to return to work if they attest to partial or full vaccination.”

The process of enforcing the requirement won’t be completed until mid-September, according to the statement.

“Vaccinating team members is a safe and effective way to protect patients and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in facilities and in the community,” the spokesperson said in an email.