Hickory, NC-based Affinity Living Group dominates the list of assisted living communities and skilled nursing facilities on the Influenza Vaccination Honor Roll of the Immunization Action Coalition, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The organization accounts for 100 of the 130 long-term care facilities on the list as of July 30.
Long-term care facilities in 14 states — Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia — are represented on the list, and ALG has communities in six of them. ALG communities represent the only long-term care communities on the list in five of those six states.
“It is exciting to see leaders in post-acute and long-term care facilities embracing the importance of the flu vaccination for healthcare personnel in their facilities,” Amy Parker Fiebelkorn, captain of the U.S. Public Health Service and deputy of the Vaccine Task Force for the CDC, said in a statement.
In May, Affinity announced that it was mandating flu vaccination for its more than 4,000 employees beginning with the 2019-2020 flu season.
To be included on the IAC honor roll, an organization must require flu vaccination for all staff members and must include measures to prevent transmission of influenza from unvaccinated personnel to residents or patients. “Such measures might include a masking requirement for the entire work shift, reassignment to nonpatient-care duties or dismissal of the staff member,” according to the IAC.
Organizations can apply to be included on the honor roll by completing this form.
A total of 843 organizations — hospitals and healthcare systems, pharmacies, medical practices and state governments in addition to long-term care entities — had been named to the overall list as of Aug. 29.
