August 20, 2021

DOH Issues Section 16 Orders to Hospitals and Long-Term Care Facilities Requiring Policy to Ensure All Employees are Vaccinated – First Dose Required by September 27
Governor Cuomo this week announced that all healthcare workers in New York State, including staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities (LTCF) will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Monday, September 27.   FQHCs and D&TCs are not currently included in the Order.

The State Department of Health has issued Section 16 Orders requiring all hospital, LTCF, and nursing homes to develop and implement a policy mandating employee vaccinations, with limited exceptions for those with religious or medical reasons.

The order comes weeks after the administration announced all patient-facing workers at state-run health care facilities had until Labor Day to get vaccinated and would not have the option of being tested weekly instead. To date, 75% of the state’s ~450,000 hospital workers, 74% of the state’s ~30,000 adult care facility workers, and 68% of the state’s ~145,500 nursing home workers have completed their vaccine series. Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration was briefed prior to the announcement.

As stated above, the Article 16 order applies to nursing homes and general hospitals – General Hospitals are defined in PHL 2801. There are specific exclusions.  OASAS programs are not covered in the definition.  

See below:

10. “General hospital” means a hospital engaged in providing medical or medical and surgical services primarily to in-patients by or under the supervision of a physician on a twenty-four hour basis with provisions for admission or treatment of persons in need of emergency care and with an organized medical staff and nursing service, including facilities providing services relating to particular diseases, injuries, conditions or deformities.  The term general hospital shall not include a residential health care facility, public health center, diagnostic center, treatment center, out-patient lodge, dispensary and laboratory or central service facility serving more than one institution.

https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/public-health-law/pbh-sect-2801.html