the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, on October 20th the Ridgewood blog published the News that as of November 1, 2021, The Valley Hospital will require all visitors to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination and ID upon arrival. Unvaccinated visitors are not permitted, with limited exceptions, including end of life, pediatrics and OB.
The idea seemed rather extreme ,in violation of HIPPA and solely based on political posturing ie… it all about the money . Not to mention a violation of the The Hippocratic Oath .The Hippocratic Oath is the oldest and most widely known treatise on medical ethics. It requires new physicians to swear by numerous healing gods and dictates the duties and responsibilities of the physician while treating patients.
HIPPA: The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”) establishes, for the first time, a set of national standards for the protection of certain health information. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).1 The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used. Within HHS, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Privacy Rule with respect to voluntary compliance activities and civil money penalties.
Many Valley doctors were unaware of the policy and only learned of the new policy through the Ridgewood blog post . Several Valley doctors we spoke with voiced concerns over broad based mandates and inability to service patients . One patient said they moved their care to another facility .
