Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our priority has been to ensure a safe home for our residents and a safe workplace for our employees. In a further effort to best limit risks for the vulnerable people we care for and to continue to ensure we protect employees, Eventide is requiring all employees to complete a COVID-19 vaccination series by October 1, 2021. Effective August 31, 2021, new employees will be required to have the COVID-19 vaccine as a part of the new hire process. While the official date of this effort is October 1, we strongly encourage all staff to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
“With the rate of COVID-19 cases rising, much in part due to the highly contagious Delta variant, we believe we must act now to protect our residents and staff,” said Jon Riewer, president and CEO of Eventide Senior Living Communities. “We often receive requests from families and residents asking that only vaccinated staff provide care, and we believe that every person we serve deserves the peace of mind of knowing we have limited their risk as much as possible. We must continue to do everything we can to combat the virus and requiring employees be vaccinated is an important step.”
The American Medical Association, American Health Care Association, LeadingAge (a national long-term care association), and many other groups have joined together to urge all health care and long-term care employers to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We agree that it is the right thing to do to continue the fight against COVID-19.
The target for long term care facilities nationwide is a 75% vaccination rate among employees. Throughout the country, the percentage trends lower. Eventide facilities in Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo report over 75% of employees are already vaccinated, some locations as high as 95%, but many rural long term care facilities in our region have a lower participation rate. And while Eventide is pleased with how many employees have already elected to become vaccinated, we believe requiring all employees to be vaccinated is important as the nation prepares for another wave of infections.
