COVID-19 Cases Rising: How Virtua Health Is Affected

Less than 1 percent of employees in South Jersey’s largest health system have tested positive for the coronavirus over the last 30 days, according to state officials.

A total of 118 Virtua Health employees tested positive for COVID-19 in the last month, even as New Jersey continues to report increases in hospital workers catching the virus.

The New Jersey Department of Health shares the number of staff cases at hospitals for the past 30 days. In all, Virtua has 14,000 team members working at its five hospitals, seven emergency departments, eight urgent care centers, 23 surgical centers, 22 rehab centers, and more than 280 care locations, according to figures from the NJBIZ 2020 hospital directory.

The breakdown by hospitals is as follows:

• Virtua Voorhees: 41
• Virtua Memorial: 30
• Virtua Marlton: 19
• Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes: 17
• Virtua Willingboro: 11

Virtua Health Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. John Matsinger attributed the low number of cases to the high number of the health system’s workforce that is vaccinated.

“We are proud that the vast majority of Virtua’s workforce is vaccinated, in compliance with our mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy,” Matsinger said. “Additionally, those who received medical or religious exemptions participate in frequent COVID testing. We strongly encourage booster shots for all staff as they become eligible.”

As COVID-19 cases spike through New Jersey, infections among hospital staff continue to increase. The state health department has reported at least 100 new cases per day among hospital employees since Wednesday.

In the past 30 days, 20.85 percent of cases among New Jersey hospital staff have come from workplace activity, while officials attributed the rest to community spread.

“Safety is our top priority, and any staff member with potential or confirmed COVID-19 quarantines to reduce potential spread in our health system and the community,” Matsinger said. “The new variants of COVID-19 are more transmissible than previous versions, causing a surge in cases in our community. However, vaccines still offer the best protection available against serious illness from COVID-19.

“Given this situation, it is incredibly important for everyone to be fully vaccinated, including booster shots for those who are eligible. Fortunately, being fully vaccinated still protects against serious illness. Virtua asks everyone to make smart, safety-minded choices over the holidays to protect each other and our dedicated health care workers. For more information about COVID-19 and to schedule a vaccination appointment, please visit virtua.org/vaccine.”

The New Jersey Hospital Association recently urged people not to delay medical care, including trips to the hospital.

The organization discovered a significant increase in deaths at home during 2020 — 95,715 overall, with COVID-19 listed as the primary cause for 16,548 people. Deaths at home never exceeded 76,000 in a single year from 2017-19, according to the New Jersey Hospital Association.

"It's impossible to know whether these excess deaths could have been prevented with timely access to hospital care," said Sean Hopkins, senior vice president of the NJHA's Center for Health Analytics, Research and Transformation. "But the trends are troubling, and they reinforce a critical message during a public health emergency: Please don't delay seeking the care you need."

The state health department reported 1,902 active hospitalizations among COVID-19 patients as of Sunday — New Jersey's highest total since April 23.