MaineHealth will require staff, including Maine Med employees, to be vaccinated by Oct. 1

MaineHealth, the state’s largest health care network, said Tuesday that it will require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1, announcing the mandate as virus case counts continue to increase in Maine.

“The vaccines are very effective, and are preventing hospitalizations and health complications with COVID-19. In addition, the vaccines are proven safe – we have a full year of data from the clinical trials and almost 200 million Americans have received a COVID-19 vaccination,” Dr. Dora Anne Mills, chief health improvement officer of MaineHealth, said in a written statement. “To be consistent with our values and to protect our colleagues, families, patients and communities, we believe it is paramount that all care team members be vaccinated.”

Mills said 83.8 percent of staff already have received their immunizations. MaineHealth, the parent organization of Maine Medical Center in Portland, has 23,000 employees in nine hospitals, a behavioral health system, diagnostic labs and home health agencies.

MaineHealth joins a growing list of providers that are requiring staff vaccinations. Northern Light Health, which includes Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and Mercy Hospital in Portland, said Monday that it would require vaccinations for all staff as soon as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives full approval to one or more vaccines. Millinocket Hospital became the first Maine hospital to require staff vaccinations when it announced its policy, also predicated on FDA approval of a vaccine, last week.

Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/08/03/maine-reports-255-new-cases-of-covid-19-over-3-days/
(Portland Press Herald)