ProHealth Care Of Waukesha County Mandates COVID-19 Vaccinations

WAUKESHA, WI—ProHealth Care of Waukesha County is requiring all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination by Oct. 15, according to a Milwaukee Business Journal report.

CEO Susan Edwards sent communication announcing the mandate on Thursday, the report said.

Edwards said it was in the best interest of everyone involved and the hospital system wanted to lead by example.

“With new, highly transmissible variants spreading chiefly among those who are unvaccinated, it is vital that we take this action to protect our patients and each other,” Edwards said in the report.

The mandate applies to all employees and ProHealth-employed physicians as well as volunteers, students and contractors, the report said.

The mandate comes as several governments and hospital systems have announced similar measures. That’s in response to rising number of cases in the U.S. and vaccination rates that have slowed down across much of the country. The rising number of cases is fueled by the delta variant, which makes up a majority of new cases in the country. The variant is considered more infectious than previous versions of the virus.

The Center for Disease Control also updated its mask guidance on Tuesday, recommending that anyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors if they are in an area with high coronavirus case rates. Waukesha County falls under that category.

Patch reached out to ProHealth Care on Thursday afternoon.

Read the full story at Milwaukee Business Journal.