San Francisco Plastic Surgery Practice Mandates Vaccines for Staff and Patients
Jonathan Kaplan, MD has instituted a new policy for his Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery practice in San Francisco. All staff and patients are now required to have had the COVID-19 vaccine to enter the practice. As was recently reported in Becker’s ASC Review, the initial decision was made after the practice installed a cappuccino machine in the facility. Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery wanted patients as well as other tenants in the building to be able to treat themselves to coffee, but also wanted to do so in way that kept his patients and staff as safe as possible and protected from COVID-19, leading to the decision for the vaccine mandate.
Dr. Kaplan spoke with Modern Aesthetics® about his decision to require vaccines and the impact it’s having on his practice.
Dr. Kaplan says his entire staff had been vaccinated prior to this new requirement and were happy about the new mandate. “Staff, without being asked even once, went out and got vaccinated in January/February,” he notes. “Employees were happy about the potential for being in a safer environment by reducing the 'viral load' in the office by not allowing new or current unvaccinated patients.”
And although they weren't worried about pushback to the patient vaccination mandate, Dr. Kaplan and staff assumed there would be some.
“The patients who are coming in proudly give us their vaccination card or California 'passport' QR code. We've definitely gotten some pushback on social media but nothing that has resulted in patients cancelling consults or surgery,” he says, adding that those who disagree on social media typically compare the practice to Nazi Germany saying that it’s “forcing" them to get vaccinated. But that argument hasn’t swayed Dr. Kaplan to reconsider the mandate. “They have a choice to not get vaccinated and we have a choice to not see them. Of course, keep in mind, we only provide cosmetic treatments so we're not withholding life-saving care, which would be more untenable.”
In addition to the vaccine mandate, patients and visitors are required to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. “Our building has been requiring masks since March 16th, 2020 and that has never relaxed, even in the last few months when California wasn't requiring masks indoors,” Dr. Kaplan explains.
So far, Dr. Kaplan has not heard from any colleagues who plan to make similar policies, but as COVID rate continue to rise again throughout the US, that may change. He acknowledges that some could be worried about the financial aspect of not treating unvaccinated patients, but that has not been a concern for him to date. “I'm also in San Francisco, a city with one of the highest vaccination rates so maybe I'm more isolated from the financial risks. Coincidentally, after we mandated patients be vaccinated, over 100 bars in San Francisco started requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination,” Dr. Kaplan adds.