Advocate Aurora Health joins in requiring vaccines
Advocate Aurora Health, the state’s largest health system, has joined other health systems in requiring employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Marshfield Clinic Health System, UW Health and Prevea Health, a large physician practice with clinics throughout eastern and northern Wisconsin, also said that they would require employees to be vaccinated.
Froedtert Health, Children’s Wisconsin, ProHealth Care, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Ascension Wisconsin, Mayo Clinic Health System and SSM Health previously announced that their employees, excluding those given medical or religious exemptions, would be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
SSM Health, which has seven hospitals in Wisconsin, announced its decision on June 28 and was the first health system in Wisconsin to require employees to be vaccinated.
The moves come as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus spreads across the country and as Wisconsin hospitals have seen an increase in patients with severe complications from COVID-19.
More than 90% of all hospital admissions for COVID-19 and almost all deaths from the disease now are from patients who were not vaccinated.
Advocate Aurora, which employs 75,000 people, including more than 38,000 in Wisconsin, will require its employees, including those who work remotely, students, volunteers and vendors to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15.
“Our ultimate duty is to protect the health and safety of our team members, patients and communities,” Jim Skogsbergh, president and CEO of Advocate Aurora, said in a video to employees. “The data is overwhelming. This vaccine is safe, and it’s highly effective in preventing infection and even more so, serious illness and death.”
UW Health, which said that 90% of its staff has been vaccinated, will require employees to be vaccinated by Nov. 1. Marshfield Clinic Health System will require employees to be vaccinated by Nov. 15.
“We did not take this decision lightly,” Susan Turney, a physician and CEO of Marshfield Clinic, said in a statement. “It was one we’ve been discussing for the past several weeks. But the time has come. In order to be a leader in the community and provide the care our patients deserve, we need to lead by example.”
The American Hospital Association and more than 50 groups have called for mandatory vaccinations, excluding exemptions for medical or religious reasons, for employees who work in health care and long-term care facilities.
The joint statement included the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Nursing Association and Association of American Medical Colleges.
It also included LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit nursing homes and organizations that provide aging services.
“This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being,” the joint statement said.