As of Dec. 1, more than 1,200 Mayo Clinic staff in the Midwest have work restrictions related to COVID-19 exposure or are unable to work because they have contracted the virus, the health system told Becker's.
Mayo Clinic spokesperson Ginger Plumbo said this equates to 2.2 percent of 55,000 staff based in the Midwest, which includes all Mayo facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a couple in Iowa. It does not include Mayo facilities in Florida and Arizona.
"We have 68,000 staff nationwide," said Ms. Plumbo. "It is important to note this is a very small percentage of our total workforce, so we have not had any problems providing the care our patients need."
The latest count of sidelined Mayo staff in the Midwest is a decrease from Nov. 24, when 1,433 staff were out for COVID-related reasons. It is also a decrease from the 1,500 staff out as of Nov. 17.
Still, Mayo said it remains concerned about staff absences and the post-Thanksgiving spike in cases in surrounding communities.
"Ninety-three percent of our staff exposures are happening in the community, not at work, and most of those exposures are from a member of the same household. So we are very much concerned about the community spread where our employees live and work," Ms. Plumbo said.
Mayo said in November that retired healthcare workers are back from recent retirements, and research nurses have temporarily moved into patient care roles to help with staffing.
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