Statement from President and CEO Mike Slubowski: Vaccination Key to Ending Pandemic, Public Private Collaboration Critical

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over; not by a long-shot. Cases are still increasing nationally and the demands on hospitals are unprecedented. Last week, you saw hospitals in some states activate crisis standards of care.

Vaccination is our best chance for slowing the spread and ending this pandemic, yet only 55 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated.

I applaud the bold steps being taken by President Biden and many large employers to expand vaccination across the national workforce. Trinity Health has led the way in getting our workforce and communities vaccinated. We were the first national health system to announce a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for all colleagues.

While some have expressed concern that vaccine requirements will push hesitant employees out of the workforce, this has not been our experience. In fact, more than 99 percent of our colleagues in management roles have taken action to submit their required documentation. This translates to fewer than 10 of 5,000 leaders who are non-compliant and leaving the organization. We're still implementing the requirement for the remainder of the 112,000 colleagues in our workforce, of which 94 percent have already submitted vaccine documentation. Prior to the requirement, about 75 percent of colleagues were vaccinated.

Trinity Health is also committed to community vaccination. Our “It Starts Here” campaign has invested $2.6 million to educate and promote vaccination across 24 communities partnering with more than 100 community-based organizations. Additionally, our clinics, pop-up partnerships, and ambulatory providers have administered more than 1.1 million COVID-19 vaccinations across 25 states.

An unprecedented public health emergency requires an unprecedented response: public and private sectors must work together in the interest of the common good to promote vaccination within our workforce and across our communities. You can count on Trinity Health to keep doing its part to help end this pandemic.