Updated Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 2:19 am CT<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OAK LAWN, IL \u2014 Advocate Aurora Health<\/a> telling its 75,000 team members in Illinois and Wisconsin to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 15. Failure to become fully vaccinated by the deadline without an approved exemption could result in termination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The mandate applies to Advocate Aurora medical centers, hospitals and outpatient clinics, including Advocate Christ Medical Center<\/a> in Oak Lawn, and Advocate South Suburban Hospital<\/a> in Hazel Crest. The decision to require employees to be vaccinated follows on the heels of a similar mandate<\/a> issued last month at OSF-Little Company of Mary Medical Center<\/a> in Evergreen Park, and other hospitals in the OSF HealthCare<\/a> network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n >>> <\/em>COVID Vaccinations Required For OSF-Little Company Mary Employees<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Failure to become fully vaccinated without an approved exemption by the deadline will follow the same process as flu vaccine non-compliance and will result in termination, a spokesperson from the health care system told Patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are first and foremost a safe, clinical enterprise. Our ultimate duty is to protect the health and safety of our team members, patients and communities,\u201d President and CEO Jim Skogsbergh told Advocate Aurora team members Wednesday in a video. \u201cThe data is overwhelming. This vaccine is safe, and it\u2019s highly effective in preventing infection and, even more so, serious illness and death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision comes as many care providers and organizations across the country have implemented such a requirement based on conclusive evidence that vaccines are safe, effective and critically important to saving lives and bringing an end to this pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the highly contagious Delta variant spreads across the country, Advocate Aurora inpatient COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased five-fold over the past three weeks, and the system\u2019s test positivity rate is the highest it\u2019s been since January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile COVID is far from gone, our story is still being written. Let this decision to mandate vaccines be another chapter in our book — one that says we have done everything we can to keep our patients, our communities and each other safe and healthy,\u201d Skogsbergh said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 340 million vaccine doses have been safely administered in the United States. Recent national data shows that nearly all recent COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths have occurred in the unvaccinated population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With limited exceptions for specific religious or medical reasons, the requirement also includes remote workers and those who don\u2019t work directly with patients, as well as medical staff, students, volunteers and on-site vendors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Advocate Aurora said in a statement that there would be limited exceptions for specific religious or medical reasons. In addition to doctors, nurses and medical staff, the requirement includes students, volunteers, remote workers and on-site vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visit Advocate Aurora Health for a list of more than 350 locations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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