Hartford HealthCare will require COVID-19 vaccination for all employees, joining other healthcare systems across the state in following a recent recommendation by the Connecticut Hospital Association.
Employees can apply for an exemption, Hartford HealthCare officials said at a July 14 media briefing, but anyone without an approved exemption must show proof of vaccination by the end of September.
“Unless there is a compelling and important reason, we expect you to be vaccinated,” said Dr. James Cardon, Hartford HealthCare’s Chief Clinical Integration Officer.
Since the onset of COVID-19, Hartford HealthCare has had three goals in responding to the pandemic:
- Contain the spread of the virus.
- Protect and ensure the safety of all colleagues, their families and those we care for.
- Make sure we have the capacity, equipment, staff and resources to care for the people and communities we serve.
“This is our measles,” says Dr. Ulysses Wu, Hartford HealthCare’s System Director of Infection Disease and Chief Epidemiologist. “This is our mumps. This is our polio. We want to take a potentially deadly disease and make it normal like the common cold.”
Yale New Haven Health, St. Francis Hospital, Connecticut Children’s and Bristol Health have also announced vaccine mandates for employees.