Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital in Presque Isle, Maine, will stop scheduling employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19, ABC affiliate WMTW reported Aug. 26.
The decision comes after Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced that healthcare workers in the state must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1. Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health, which includes A.R. Gould Hospital, said it has aligned its policy with the state's mandate.
Northern Light Health said it was unable to comment on specific personnel matters.
However, "in situations where employees notify us that they are not planning to be vaccinated for COVID-19, we may choose to remove them from the schedule prior to Oct. 1, 2021, based on the operational needs of the organization," hospital spokesperson Karen Gonya told Becker's.
Ms. Gonya said most employees who are hesitant to get vaccinated will continue working as scheduled until the end of September as hospital representatives try to address their concerns and encourage them to get inoculated.
The number of hospitals and health systems — and states — requiring COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers continues to grow. Some of the latest health systems to require that employees get vaccinated are Geisinger in Danville, Pa., and Ochsner Health in New Orleans.