HANOVER – The safety of patients and staff is of the highest priority at Hanover and District Hospital (HDH), and ensuring that staff and physicians are vaccinated is very much a part of upholding this notion. Further, as a health care organization, HDH has a responsibility to provide the safest environment possible for the community that they serve.
On Sept. 28, HDH received full endorsement from the board of governors to implement measures to ensure that 100 per cent of staff and physicians are fully vaccinated. Effective Jan. 1, 2022, all employees and physicians, except those with a well-documented and approved medical exemption, are required to be fully vaccinated (14 days after the second dose of vaccine). Employees and physicians who choose not to comply with this policy by the deadline will be deemed to have resigned from their position at HDH. Rapid antigen testing will continue to remain in place until the end of the year for those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. HDH’s current vaccination rate achieved is 95 per cent of staff and physicians.
“Unvaccinated health-care workers in higher risk settings such as hospitals pose risk to patients, their colleagues, and themselves, and to the capacity of the health-care system due to the potential introduction of COVID-19 into the setting. Knowing all of this, it is imperative that HDH take the position that vaccination against COVID-19 is mandatory for all of our employees and credentialed staff,” said CEO Dana Howes.
“Ninety-five per cent of our staff have gotten vaccinated, and 100 per cent of our physicians have gotten vaccinated. We are so proud of them because it demonstrates their commitment to providing safe patient care and ensuring a safe environment for their colleagues; it also demonstrates their confidence in public health strategies to control COVID-19,” said Howes.
“We want to thank our board of governors for endorsing the notion that all HDH staff must be vaccinated by the new year. Their support on this policy further conveys the urgency and importance of moving HDH in the direction of compulsory vaccination. The board is truly committed to the hospital’s vision of ‘providing exceptional care’ and we are truly grateful of this commitment,” said Howes.
