Michigan's Spectrum Health to require employee COVID-19 vaccinations

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Spectrum Health, a 14-hospital network in western Michigan, said Wednesday it will mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for employees, volunteers, and contractors — becoming at least the third hospital system in the state to announce the requirement.

Grand Rapids-based Spectrum, which has 31,000 employees, joins the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Livonia-based Trinity Health. About 70% of Spectrum’s onsite staff are vaccinated, a spokesman said.

Related: Beaumont Health to require vaccinations for all employees by fall, possibly sooner

"We must do all we can to take care of each other and our community," president and CEO Tina Freese Decker said in a statement that cited the coronavirus vaccines’ effectiveness in reducing the risk of hospitalization, death, and long-haul symptoms. "Together, our actions will serve to save lives and shorten the impact of the pandemic — both clear benefits to the public good."