Mercy Health officials announced Wednesday that all employees will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 30. The new requirement comes as COVID-19 cases are increasing in communities in northeast Oklahoma and Arkansas, officials with the health system said. The delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly in Missouri, where Mercy has hospitals and clinics in Joplin, Springfield, St. Louis and other locations. Mercy officials said they are seeing the real-world impact of the protection vaccines provide, and that the majority of Mercy patients recently hospitalized with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated. “What we are seeing aligns with the Associated Press analysis of CDC data,” said Dr. John Mohart, Mercy’s senior vice president of clinical services. “More than 95% of recent hospitalizations across the U.S. are people who aren’t vaccinated. The data is clear. Vaccination is key to saving lives.” Mercy officials said they will work with co-workers to develop a plan for compliance ahead of the scheduled deadline. Mercy is a health system with dozens of acute care and specialty hospitals as well as over 700 physician and outpatient clinics in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, according to its website. It has over 44,000 employees.SSM Health officials announced in June that they are requiring team members to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by late September. Related Video Above: SSM Health requiring employees to get COVID-19 vaccine
OKLAHOMA CITY —
Mercy Health officials announced Wednesday that all employees will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 30.
The new requirement comes as COVID-19 cases are increasing in communities in northeast Oklahoma and Arkansas, officials with the health system said. The delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly in Missouri, where Mercy has hospitals and clinics in Joplin, Springfield, St. Louis and other locations.
Mercy officials said they are seeing the real-world impact of the protection vaccines provide, and that the majority of Mercy patients recently hospitalized with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated.
“What we are seeing aligns with the Associated Press analysis of CDC data,” said Dr. John Mohart, Mercy’s senior vice president of clinical services. “More than 95% of recent hospitalizations across the U.S. are people who aren’t vaccinated. The data is clear. Vaccination is key to saving lives.”
Mercy officials said they will work with co-workers to develop a plan for compliance ahead of the scheduled deadline.
Mercy is a health system with dozens of acute care and specialty hospitals as well as over 700 physician and outpatient clinics in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, according to its website. It has over 44,000 employees.
SSM Health officials announced in June that they are requiring team members to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by late September.
Related Video Above: SSM Health requiring employees to get COVID-19 vaccine