Employees Must Be Vaccinated: Baltimore Washington Medical Center

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — As the delta variant spreads, more businesses are requiring masks and that their employees get the COVID-19 vaccine, including Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie and Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis.

Both hospitals are among the 60 hospital members belonging to the Maryland Hospital Association that agreed to require all employees and clinical team members to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Baltimore Washington Medical Center and its parent company, the University of Maryland Medical System, the state’s largest hospital network, were among the first facilities to set dates requiring their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

“As health care professionals, we accept that we hold ourselves to a higher standard and we embrace our mission to devote ourselves to the welfare of those in our care,” Dr. Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of UMMS said in a statement provided to The Baltimore Sun. “COVID-19 vaccines are by far the best way to stop the spread of the virus, and given our ethical obligation to our patients, we must take every appropriate measure to keep our hospitals and other locations as safe as possible.”

Anne Arundel Medical Center's parent company, Luminis Health, said this week that all of its employees must be vaccinated by Oct. 1 with exceptions being made for medical and religious reasons.

Employees with exceptions will be tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis starting in October, which also is when the hospital requires its staff to receive a seasonal flu vaccine.

“The COVID-19 vaccine clearly works,” the hospital said in a statement. “The vaccine is our best shot at ending this pandemic.”

Luminis Health employs approximately 9,000 people between its two hospitals, including medical staff and volunteers. As of July, 75 percent of staff and volunteers have received a COVID-19 vaccine, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Read more at The Baltimore Sun.