All employees at Kalamazoo’s Ascension Borgess hospital will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 12th, according to a statement posted Tuesday on its website.
Vaccines will be required whether or not an employee provides direct patient care, or works remotely. The policy also applies to volunteers and vendors, as well as those working for the hospital group’s subsidiaries and partners.
Borgess says individuals with a medical condition or strongly held religious beliefs can request an exemption.
Officials say the vaccine policy is driven by a desire to protect employees and their families, patients, visitors and the community.
The hospital statement says Borgess is following in the vein of what "many health systems across the country, including in our markets," are doing.
The November vaccine completion deadline is timed to coincide with Ascension Borgess hospital's annual influenza vaccination requirement, the statement says.