Duluth-based Essentia mandates employee COVID-19 vaccines

DULUTH – The city's largest employer, Essentia Health, will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by November.

With few exceptions for medical and religious reasons, the mandate applies to all 13,000 of the Duluth-based health system's employees in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.

"This is going to be reassuring to our patients that we are doing everything possible to keep them safe," Dr. Jon Pryor, president of Essentia's eastern division, said during a virtual news conference Wednesday. "After studying this, looking at the legal implications, thinking about all the pros and the cons, listening to thought leaders on the topic, talking to ethicists and so on, we felt this is the best course of action."

To date, Pryor said 87% of physicians, 84% of advance practice providers and 70% of other employees have been vaccinated.

Essentia joins a number of large Minnesota-based health systems, including Mayo Clinic, Allina Health and Minnesota Children's, in mandating vaccines for employees.

Essentia employees, including contractors and staffers permanently working from home, will need to receive a first dose by Oct. 1 and a second dose by Nov. 1.

"No one likes to mandate things, and we were hopeful to not have a fourth surge (in COVID-19 cases)," Pryor said. "It's a threat to our way of life, a threat to our economy and a threat to us to be able to socially interact."

The United Steelworkers Local 9460, which represents a variety of employees at Essentia, said it "is sending in a demand to bargain with Essentia over this."

Pryor said he expects to lose some employees, based on the experiences other hospitals have had with vaccine mandates.

"There are going to be some who, for whatever reason, they don't want the vaccine, so therefore they won't ultimately be employed here," he said.

Pryor said the ongoing shortage of health care workers is causing many health systems to hesitate on a vaccine mandate.

Federal guidance on workplace vaccine mandates allows the emergency-use-approved COVID-19 vaccines to be required as a condition for employment.

"We have discussed this with our legal staff and feel we're in a good position to support this," Pryor said.

Brooks Johnson • 218-491-6496