Most healthcare systems in the Philadelphia area already had vaccine mandates in place. Doylestown Hospital issued its own in October and required that employees be vaccinated or obtain an exemption by October. The outcome of the CMS cases is unlikely to have any bearing on those rules, according to Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Hastings College of Law who specializes in vaccine law. “Employers historically have the right to set workplace requirements,” she told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hospitals in Philadelphia have reported high rates of vaccinations and have not indicated a desire to change their vaccine mandates. This includes Doylestown, according to Gilmore. “This requirement is an extension of our organization’s belief that following the science is the most effective way to serve our community,” Gilmore said in a statement.


A number of providers in southwestern Pennsylvania have rescinded their policies, however, following legal challenges brought against the federal mandate. In late November, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the rule that caused 10 of 12 healthcare systems that initially agreed to comply with it to back off. Among them were Butler, Conemaugh, Excela, Penn Highlands, St. Claire Medical System and Washington health systems, according to news affiliate, WESA.

One institution in particular that said it would not require the vaccine without the mandate was the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. “We will comply with whatever mandate exists, and we will continue our activities that encourage and try to increase vaccination,” said UPMC chief medical officer Dr. Don Yealy at a news conference earlier this month.

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