DES MOINES, Iowa — Update: Melissa Evans is asking folks to sign her petition to ask Gov. Kim Reynolds to rescind the ban on mask mandates. More information can be found here.
Some Iowa hospital systems have begun rolling out vaccine mandates, but an Urbandale woman is afraid it's not happening fast enough.
Melissa Evans' 67-year-old father has congestive heart failure. He was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 3 because he was retaining fluid. As a nurse, she says she knew it was important for him to go to the hospital, even though he was hesitant. She, too, had her own concerns.
"My main concern is if he were to contract the Coronavirus from a staff member he would most likely die," Evans said. "COVID has killed people in my family and I’m not going to be one of those people who sits back."
So Evans took action, making a sign.
"When he was admitted, I hung a note up on his door that only fully-vaccinated staff may enter and care for him," she said. "A couple hours later it was made known that that was not okay...that Mercy did not agree with having that sign up, [and] we needed to take it down."
Local 5 shared Evans' concerns with MercyOne Des Moines. They declined to provide a representative to go on camera, but they sent a statement that read:
MercyOne's Central Iowa region does not have a policy on COVID-19 vaccinations at this time – but we continue to encourage all who are eligible to be vaccinated. We are following CDC guidelines that state all colleagues and visitors must wear masks at healthcare facilities.
MercyOne also shared they require vaccines for team members at all Trinity Health-owned facilities including MercyOne Dubuque, MercyOne Dyersville, MercyOne Clinton, MercyOne North Iowa, and MercyOne Siouxland.
It's still not required at MercyOne Central Iowa locations, which includes the hospital where Evans' father is being treated. She says it's simply not enough.
"The healthcare field should be the first place, should be the frontrunner in not only following the CDC‘s recommendations, but showing people that these vaccines are safe," Evans said.
Evans's father isn't the only person in her family who has a compromised immune system. Her daughter, Natalie, was born at 28 weeks. She now lives with chronic lung disease.
To keep her daughter safe, Evans put up a similar sign at their family's campsite when they camped out this summer. She says fellow campers not only respected the sign, but many of them gave her thumbs-ups and compliments.
She wishes her father's sign would have been as well-received, but she fears it may have led to delays in care.
"We were told initially that if we were only going to have fully vaccinated staff caring for him, that his cares would be delayed," she said. "I thought that they were taking no responsibility for their choice not to have a vaccine [mandate] for their staff."