Here’s how many Avera and Sanford Health employees are currently out sick with COVID

Sonya Swink, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read
Avera McKennan’s cancer institute, part of its campus in Sioux Falls, serves the entire region around for hundreds of miles. November 19, 2021 photo.
Avera McKennan’s cancer institute, part of its campus in Sioux Falls, serves the entire region around for hundreds of miles. November 19, 2021 photo.

COVID-19 is rampant yet again, and hospital staff are not fully immune to its spread.

Avera Health and Sanford Health have recently reported to the Argus Leader their percentages of staff out sick due to COVID-19, stating that only a few hundred of staff at each major health network, company-wide, are out sick.

These numbers arrive at the time of the highest community transmission in South Dakota, where both are the two largest health networks operating in the tri-state area, and where both systems' hospitals are seeing their capacity tested, yet again.

The number of staff out sick is a few hundred each

Medical testing technician Zach Dynes provides a COVID-19 test on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, outside the Avera Institute for Human Genetics in Sioux Falls.
Medical testing technician Zach Dynes provides a COVID-19 test on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, outside the Avera Institute for Human Genetics in Sioux Falls.

At Avera, an estimated 2% of its 20,000-person staff is out sick due to COVID-19.

“At this time, over 400 employees are out with COVID-19 across our entire health system,” Avera Health shared in a statement to the Argus Leader. “Our workforce is currently in compliance with our COVID-19 vaccination requirement.”

At Sanford Health, an estimated 1.5% of its nearly 30,000-person staff is out sick due to COVID-19 as of Jan. 13.

More: Omicron variant straining hospital capacity, COVID testing capabilities in Sioux Falls

“Sanford Health currently has approximately 450 employees out sick due to COVID-19 across our entire footprint, which includes health care facilities across the Midwest. We encourage the public to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine and receive your booster to help protect yourselves and others,” Erica DeBoer, the chief nursing officer at Sanford Health shared in a statement to Argus Leader. "It’s also important to stay at home if you are sick to avoid potentially spreading the virus to others. These measures, along with masking and good hand hygiene, will help relieve the pressure on the health care system as we continue to fight COVID-19."

The Sanford Medical Center stands on Friday, June 28, in Sioux Falls.
The Sanford Medical Center stands on Friday, June 28, in Sioux Falls.

In November of 2021, Sanford Health reported to the Argus Leader that some 3,000, or around 10% of its staff, had been granted an exception to having to take the COVID-19 vaccine full series.

“All employees at Sanford Health are compliant with our vaccine mandate, meaning they have completed their vaccination series or have been granted a religious or medical exemption,” Jeremy Cauwels, the chief physician at Sanford Health said in a statement to Argus Leader.

Both healthcare networks also reiterated that staff remain masked when they work in areas of high community spread as well as in settings where COVID-19 is clearly prevalent in patients throughout hospital, in-home and other settings.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Here's the number of Avera and Sanford Health staff sick with COVID