3 Will County hospitals mandate COVID-19 vaccines

Now that the Pfizer vaccine has full approval from the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, three Will County Hospitals will require the COVID-19 vaccine for its staff.

These include AMITA Health, which includes AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center and AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook, Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox and Edward-Elmhurst Health, which includes Edward Hospital in Naperville and doctor’s offices in Crest Hill and Plainfield

AMITA Health is requiring full vaccination for all its associates against COVID-19 by Nov. 12, 2021.

Silver Cross is requiring all employees, medical staff members, volunteers, students and vendors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 15.

Oct. 25 is the deadline to be fully vaccinated for Edward-Elmhurst Health’s employees, doctors, advance practice practitioners, volunteers, vendors, contractors, students and instructors.

Currently, 71% of its 8,500 employees are vaccinated, according to Keith Hartenberger, spokesperson for Edward-Elmhurst Health. An Aug. 13 Herald-News story said 60% of St. Joe’s staff was vaccinated. The same story said 65% of the staff at Silver Cross and 95% of the leadership at Siver Cross was also vaccinated.

Keith Parrott, president and CEO of AMITA Health, said the priority is “health and safety” and the agreement of medical experts that “vaccination is our best way out of this pandemic.”

“These vaccines have proven to be very effective in lessening illness in breakthrough cases,” Parrott said in a news release from AMITA Health. “Only by vaccinating will we stop this virus from circulating and mutating.”

AMITA Health will hold “education and listening sessions” in the upcoming weeks. AMITA Health will also make reasonable accommodations to those unable to receive the COVID vaccine for health or religious reasons.

Silver Cross consulted with medical experts and hospital leadership before making vaccines mandatory and it received the unanimous approval of the hospital’s medical executive committee, according to a news release from Silver Cross.

Dr. Christopher Udovich, Silver Cross’ chief medical officer, stressing the safety of patients and staff, said the vaccine requirement “is the right thing to do.”

“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective and the best tool we have at our disposal to end the pandemic,” Udovich said in the release.

Silver Cross recently reopened a special negative-pressure unit because of the hospital’s increase in COVID-positive patients, the highest since April 2021, the release said.

Mary Lou Mastro, system CEO for Edward-Elmhurst Health, said patients expect health care workers to be vaccinated and that health care workers are at risk if they remain vaccinated.

“The ethical framework under which we operate, however, means that it is our responsibility to do good, and an individual’s right to autonomy ends when that person’s actions may harm others,” Mastro said in a release from EEH. “Vaccines, fully supported by the medical community, have been protecting people from disease for centuries, nearly eliminating smallpox, polio, rubella and others. This is the right thing to do.”

Morris Hospital, with 63.62% of its staff vaccinated as of Tuesday, is having ongoing discussions on mandatory vaccination, according to Janet Long, public relations manager at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers.

DuPage Medical Group also is discussing mandatory vaccination.

“We have strongly encouraged our physicians and team members to receive the vaccine and with few exceptions, most have,” DuPage Medical Group vice president of communications Lisa Lagger said. “With the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine just yesterday, setting expectations that physicians and team members receive the vaccine is being actively discussed.”