By Star Journal staff

All Marshfield Clinic Health System employees will need to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a press release issued Wednesday.

“Our Health System is about serving our mission and living up to our values. These vaccines are the key to stopping this virus, and it’s essential we take this important step in providing the safest possible environment for our patients, families, visitors, providers and staff,” said Dr. Susan Turney, CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System.

Employees must be vaccinated by Nov. 15 this year. The timing of the mandate aligns with its annual required influenza vaccine process, according to the release.

Turney said that the decision to mandate was based on the increase in COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin and increased spread of the highly contagious delta variant surging across the nation. In the last two weeks alone, the Health System saw COVID-19 hospitalizations triple, and since the beginning of July, nearly every COVID-19 patient the Health System hospitalized was unvaccinated.

“We did not take this decision lightly. It was one we’ve been discussing for the past several weeks. But the time has come. In order to be a leader in the community and provide the care our patients deserve, we need to lead by example,” Turney said.