Mary Washington Healthcare Announces COVID-19 Immunization Requirement for Staff and Providers

Fredericksburg, VA, July 29, 2021—Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC) announced this week that they will require COVID-19 immunization for employees, medical staff, and volunteers by October 31, 2021.

Over the course of the pandemic, MWHC has been transparent with staff and the community when sharing the science behind COVID-19 and the vaccines. And the evidence is clear—the vaccines are safe and effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 and subsequent variants.

“We have a responsibility to provide a safe work environment for our Associates, medical staff, and volunteers while protecting our patients from harm,” says Mike McDermott, MD, MBA, President and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare.

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) and American Hospital Association both announced their support of health systems requiring immunization for their employees. According to the VHHA statement, “VHHA supports hospitals and health systems amending their existing vaccine policies to require COVID-19 vaccines for their health care employees. Hospital and health system employee vaccination against COVID-19 will maintain the long-term ability of our health care system to respond to the pandemic, to safely care for patients by protecting them from infection, and to mitigate the spread of the virus within health care facilities and among clinicians, patients, and their families and friends.”

MWHC required all staff, medical staff, and volunteers to receive an influenza vaccination last year and will continue the policy in 2021. “Along with our influenza immunization policy, requiring COVID-19 vaccination aligns with our mission to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve,” Dr. McDermott stated in an internal memo to all employees and medical staff.

Dr. McDermott encourages all eligible Virginians not currently vaccinated to plan to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “I support the joint statement from Virginia healthcare organizations released last week,” says Dr. McDermott. “While we have provided almost 200,000 vaccines in our clinic at MWHC, we know that the vaccination rate in our region and the state needs to grow to combat the COVID-19 variants negatively impacting the unvaccinated in our community.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 99 percent of current cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are among the unvaccinated.

About Mary Washington Healthcare

Mary Washington Healthcare is a fully integrated, regional medical system that provides inpatient and outpatient care through over 50 facilities including Mary Washington Hospital, a 471-bed regional medical center, and Stafford Hospital, a 100-bed community hospital. Mary Washington Healthcare is a not-for-profit health system with a longstanding commitment to providing care regardless of ability to pay. For more information about our services and facilities, visit mwhc.com.