Norton Healthcare, Baptist Health requiring all employees to get COVID-19 vaccine

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Norton Healthcare and Baptist Health are joining UofL Health in requiring all of its employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Monday, Baptist Health said it would be rolling out a plan to require unvaccinated employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 "due to the sharp rise in cases due to the delta variant, primarily among those who are unvaccinated," a spokesperson said in a statement to WDRB News.

A letter sent to Baptist employees on Monday obtained by WDRB News says cases have been rising at each of its locations, "in some instances nearly reaching the numbers we saw during the height of the pandemic."

To date, Baptist says about 65-70% of its nearly 23,000 employees have been vaccinated. Later this week, Baptist is expected to announce a partnership "with other healthcare systems in our communities to take this step together."

In a video update to employees on Monday, Norton Healthcare President and CEO Russell Cox said employees are required to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15.

"Circumstances sometimes dictate this kind of action, this is one of those circumstances," Cox said. "The delta variant has clearly created a new and extremely dangerous situation. We're seeing its impact in the growing number of people in our care and the number of Norton employees who are testing positive or who have been exposed and are being required to quarantine."

Cox said to date, "somewhere around 80%" of employees have been vaccinated.

UofL Health announced in May that it would require all employees to get vaccinated, starting Sept. 1. After that, "team members and providers who are not vaccinated and have not received an exemption, may be subject to disciplinary action," UofL Health said in a news release at the time.

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