A second Pennsylvania health care system acknowledged that it gave the employees’ relatives the COVID-19 vaccine, but said it suspended the program after discussions with the state Department of Health.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System said that Chester County Hospital administered a “lottery system” for family members of employees who otherwise met the state’s eligibility requirements.
“Based on the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s guidance on this issue this week, Chester County Hospital discontinued this practice,” said Patrick Norton, vice president of public relations at Penn Medicine, in a written statement provided in response to inquiries. The Associated Press.
Family members were chosen blindly. About 1,600 staff members at Chester County Hospital were vaccinated through the lottery system, launched on January 22, Norton said on Friday.
“We continue our commitment to protect as many individuals as possible, while following all applicable eligibility guidelines,” he said.
Earlier this week, another major healthcare chain, Geisinger, acknowledged that it had allowed employees’ family members to skip the COVID-19 vaccine line, maintaining three weekend clinics where Geisinger employees were allowed to bring up to two family members, since they were eligible to launch phased vaccines.
The state Department of Health said this week that Geisinger should not have reserved the vaccine for relatives of employees and threatened to suspend the distribution of the first vaccine doses by Geisinger.
“This is an equity issue,” said Lindsey Mauldin, senior advisor to the agency for the COVID-19 response, in a press release on Friday.
She said the Department of Health is communicating with vaccine providers “every day to make sure people know where we want them to be.”
Geisinger, who has facilities throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, insisted that he followed state guidelines for vaccine eligibility.
About 3,600 relatives of Geisinger employees have been vaccinated with the program. There are no additional vaccine clinics scheduled for family members of employees.
Other major health care organizations in Pennsylvania said they did not reserve the vaccine for family members.
State demand for the vaccine far exceeded Pennsylvania’s available supply, leading people who were unable to secure a vaccine appointment, as well as medical ethics experts, to question the ownership of health care networks that give special access to relatives.
More than 4 million Pennsylvania residents are currently eligible for the vaccine, including people age 65 and older and younger people with high-risk medical conditions. As of Thursday, nearly 1.6 million Pennsylvania residents have received at least one of the two required doses.