Five North Carolina Hospital Systems Will Now Need COVID-19 Vaccines for Employees | DFA 90.7

Five North Carolina hospital systems will now require all their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Atrium Health, Novant Health, Cone Health, Duke Health and Wake Forest Baptist made the announcement Thursday, according to a press release from the North Carolina Healthcare Association. Six UNC Health hospitals – UNC Medical Center, UNC Rex, UNC Johnston, UNC Chatham, UNC Rockingham and UNC Southeastern – will also make vaccinations mandatory.

“As we all know, vaccination is the most effective tool we have to stop the spread of this virus and protect the patients in our care from COVID-19,” wrote executives at Atrium Health, based to Charlotte, in an email sent to employees. , which the hospital system provided to the WFAE.

The email says all employees in the hospital system – including remote workers, physicians, resident physicians, professors, fellows, interns, contractors and volunteers – should be fully immunized by the 31st. October. If employees choose to request a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine, that exemption must be approved within the same time frame.

Novant Health, which is based in Winston-Salem but has a strong presence in the Charlotte area, is demanding that all members of its team be fully immunized by September 15.

“We appreciate and recognize the tens of thousands of team members who eagerly received the vaccine,” Novant Health said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the reality is that immunization rates remain stagnant across the country, including at Novant Health.”

According to a spokesperson for Novant, the hospital system will consider “some medical and religious exemptions … on a case-by-case basis”. The spokesperson said these exemptions and the requirements for applying for them have been shared with Novant employees.

On Thursday, the North Carolina Healthcare Association, which has 130 member hospital systems, expressed support for mandatory vaccination policies and praised the six systems that have chosen to implement such requirements.

“Vaccinating hospital and healthcare workers against COVID-19 is vital to safely care for patients by protecting them from infections and to mitigate the spread of the virus in healthcare facilities and among clinicians, patients and their families and friends, ”NCHA said. in a press release.

North Carolina Health Secretary Mandy Cohen also expressed support for the requirements in a statement.

“Thank you to the North Carolina Healthcare Association, and to the healthcare systems that lead the way in requiring employee immunizations, for taking action to protect healthcare workers, their patients, our communities and the state,” a- she said in the statement. “Vaccines are our way out of the pandemic. Do not wait to vaccinate.”

The announcements come as the delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the United States, including North Carolina. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated this week that the most contagious strain accounted for about 83% of new cases of COVID-19.

At least four North Carolina hospital systems had previously said they would urge their employees to get vaccinated but not require it: Novant, Duke, UNC Health and Wake Forest Baptist.

“Our goal is to educate and inform our team members about the benefits and safety of the vaccine and let them make an informed decision about whether to receive it,” said Becky Bean, vice-president. Senior President and Director of Pharmacy at Novant, at WFAE in December 2020.

In January, just one month after the vaccine was made available, half of the hospital staff in Charlotte had not planned a COVID-19 vaccine.