Sanford Health will require that all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination by Nov. 1 or risk losing their job.
The hospital system employs 3,800 workers across its Bismarck region, which includes central and western North Dakota and Sanford Medical Center in Bismarck. It says 90% of its clinicians and 70% of its nurses have been vaccinated already.
"The best thing we can do for our patients is to take good care of our employees," said Dr. Chris Meeker, chief medical officer for Sanford in Bismarck. "We need to have our employees healthy and safe."
He added that Sanford is monitoring the situation in Arkansas and Missouri, which have emerged as coronavirus hot spots in recent weeks amid surges in both cases and hospitalizations.