Rhode Island hospitals now posting employee COVID vaccination rates. From 44-86%

In mid-December, Dr. Christian Arbelaez, of Lifespan (photo credit), became the first doctor in Rhode Island to be vaccinated. Arbelaez is associate professor of emergency medicine at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. The vaccination happened in mid-December.

Dr. Arbelaez said, “We will stop the spread in our communities, if you get vaccinated. The vaccine is not the virus. The vaccine works by confusing the body to help your body create an army to fight it. The vaccine is safe, that’s why I got it today.”

The RI Department of Health has required all hospitals to post their vaccination rates on their website – a summary of which is below. Many hospitals broke down their physician and clinic groups – those with an asterisk – * – next to their name are the state’s primary hospitals.

As healthcare facilities approach the October 1st deadline to be vaccinated, this is the data posted most recently by hospitals and their owned groups:

LIFESPAN GROUP

Bradley Hospital

            # of Personnel – 890

            Completely vaccinated – 66% – 589 people

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 9 people

Coastal Medical Physicians

            # of Personnel – 614

            Completely vaccinated – 68% – 419

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 6

Gateway Healthcare

            # of Personnel – 405

            Completely vaccinated – 65% – 262

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 4

Lifespan Corporate Services

            # of Personnel – 1,104

            Completely vaccinated – 77% – 849

            Partially vaccinated – <1% – 4

Lifespan MSO

            # of Personnel – 77

            Completely vaccinated – 78% – 60

            Partially vaccinated – <1% – 1

Lifespan Physicians Group

            # of Personnel – 1,264

            Completely vaccinated – 84% – 1,056

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 16

• Newport Hospital

            # of Personnel – 1,230

            Completely vaccinated – 79% – 966

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 15

• Rhode Island Hospital

            # of Personnel – 9,667

            Completely vaccinated – 66% – 6,311

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 89

• The Miriam Hospital

            # of Personnel – 4,190

            Completely vaccinated – 67% – 2,815

            Partially vaccinated – 1% – 56

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• Landmark Medical Center / Rehab Hospital of RI

            # of Personnel – 1,088

            Completely vaccinated – 86% – 939

            Partially vaccinated – 1.5% – 16

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CARE NEW ENGLAND GROUP

Care New England – Corporate

            # of Personnel 711

            % partial or fully vaccinated – 77%

            Completely vaccinated – 535

            Partially vaccinated – 12

Care New England – Medical Group

            # of Personnel – 1,180

            % partial or fully vaccinated – 80%

            Completely vaccinated – 922

            Partially vaccinated – 20

Butler Hospital

            # of Personnel – 1,114

            % partial or fully vaccinated – 72%

            Completely vaccinated – 780

            Partially vaccinated – 25

• Kent Hospital

            # of Personnel – 2,039

            % partially or fully vaccinated – 72%

            Completely vaccinated – 1,436

            Partially vaccinated – 25

The Providence Center

            # of Personnel – 645

            % partially or fully vaccinated – 64%

            Completely vaccinated – 403

            Partially vaccinated – 8

VNA of Care New England

            # of Personnel – 265

            % partially or fully vaccinated – 74%

            Completely vaccinated – 223

            Partially vaccinated – 8

• Women & Infants Hospital

            # of Personnel – 2,122

            % partially or completely vaccinated – 74%

            Completely vaccinated – 1,513

            Partially vaccinate – 48

Care New England – total group

8,076 personnel – 74% partially or completely vaccinated – 5,812

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CHARTER CARE GROUPS

Blackstone Valley Surgicare

# of personnel – 56

Completely vaccinated – 53.6% – 30

Partialy vaccinated – 3.6% – 2

Charter Care Home Health Services

# of Personnel – 83

Fully vaccinated – 80.7% – 67 people

• Roger Williams Medical Center

# of Personnel – 1,561

Fully vaccinated – 44.2%  – 690

Partially vaccinated – 3.8% – 60

• St. Joseph Healthcare

# of personnel – 1,479

Fully vaccinated – 46.7% – 697

Partially vaccinated – 2.3% – 35

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SOUTH COUNTY HOSPITAL GROUP

• South County Hospital

# of personnel – 1,597

Fully vaccinated – 81.8% – 1,307

Partially vaccinated – 2.3% – 36

South County Home Health

# of personnel – 120

Fully vaccinated – 90.1% – 109 people

South County Surgical Supply

# of personnel – 18

Fully vaccinated – 77.8% – 14 people

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• Westerly Hospital

# of personnel – 764

Fully vaccinated – 79% – 601

Partially vaccinated – 2% – 15

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Of the 10 major hospitals in Rhode Island, an average of 69.6% of workers are fully vaccinated.

Landmark Medical Center leads the hospitals with an 86% full vaccination rate

Roger Williams Medical Center has the least with 44.2% full vaccination rate

Data in most cases is through the end of July – noteworthy is the mandate for healthcare workers to be vaccinated went into effect only in the last few weeks – the list will be updated when August’s data is posted.

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This month, Governor McKee signed an Executive Order mandating vaccines for most workers in hospitals and healthcare facilities, including nursing homes and long term care facilities:

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is announcing today that all employees, interns, and volunteers in RIDOH-licensed healthcare facilities and all RIDOH-licensed healthcare providers must receive their final dose of COVID-19 vaccine by October 1, 2021, effective August 18th.

“The most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, is vaccination,” said Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH. “For the safety of our healthcare workers, patients, and for our healthcare system overall, today’s announcement is a very important step.”

The regulation applies to staff at RIDOH-licensed health care facilities, including those with direct patient contact and those who may not be involved in patient care. It also applies to individually licensed providers who utilize their license as part of their position in a healthcare facility. Prior to October 1st, any worker in a RIDOH-licensed healthcare facility who is not vaccinated is required to wear a face mask and be tested at least twice weekly.

RIDOH-licensed facilities

Workers in RIDOH-licensed facilities must be vaccinated before October 1st. Workers in RIDOH-licensed facilities who are not vaccinated by October 1st will not be allowed to enter a healthcare facility unless they provide proof of a medical exemption. Employees in violation of this regulation may face financial penalties and/or suspension/revocation of the facility’s license, in addition to disciplinary action by the affected employer against individual employees who do not comply.

RIDOH-licensed healthcare providers

All RIDOH-licensed healthcare providers who work in a healthcare setting must be vaccinated as of October 1st. Those who are not vaccinated by October 1st may be subject to financial penalties and/or suspension/revocation of their license (unless they provide proof of a medical exemption).

The COVID-19 healthcare worker vaccination regulations and additional resources are available online: covid.ri.gov/healthcare-professionals.

The CDC provides this link to Myths and Facts on the vaccine:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html