Why is GBMC Requiring all Our People to be Vaccinated Against the Coronavirus by September 1? What if it was your loved one?

Imagine if your immune-compromised daughter came to GBMC for her cancer chemotherapy and she contracted COVID-19 from a staff member who was not vaccinated. She needed to be transferred to the ICU and intubated. How would you feel? Would you accept the fact that it was the right of the staff member not to take a vaccine that would have prevented spreading the virus to others?

I want to again thank all the GBMC teams for their fabulous work fighting the pandemic. Even before there were vaccines, many of you put your own health at risk in caring for those infected with the virus. This came as no surprise to me because we know that healthcare is a calling of service to others. 

The scientific community raced to identify the infectious agent causing the disease and quickly created a vaccine to prevent sickness and death from it. Virologists, immunologists, and epidemiologists worked tirelessly to complete randomized controlled trials of vaccines to see if they could create at least one that was safe and effective. Early on, when the numbers of people treated were relatively small, there was plenty of room for doubt. Then, as millions of people across the world were given the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine with minimal side effects, their effectiveness at preventing serious illness and death became clear. At that point the scientific community, led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, started encouraging all people to be vaccinated. 

The most current information regarding the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines is so profound that the risk of harm from the vaccine is miniscule compared to the risk of serious illness or death in those not immunized. Now, it is time for us to call the question, “Is it ok for a healthcare worker to not be immunized and risk illness and death for themselves and and patients?”

The Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) gathered its members together to consider the question thoughtfully. Led by the scientists at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, the members of the MHA responded “no.” The administrative wheels at the Food and Drug Administration do not turn quickly, so it may be some time before all the reviews required for full FDA authorization beyond Emergency Use have been completed. But these vaccines have extensive data, which has been scrutinized by experts in the fields of infectious disease and immunology, supporting their safety and effectiveness because of the millions of doses that have been given under Emergency Use. The vaccines are on their way to complete authorization – it’s just a matter of time. We at GBMC, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, and others have decided to mandate the vaccine now because we want to minimize the chance that more daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers are harmed by COVID-19. 

Mandatory vaccination policies are not new to hospital staff and colleagues, and those who are not able to be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons will be required to apply for an exemption, like we do for influenza and varicella and a host of other vaccines.  

GBMC HealthCare, like the other hospitals in Maryland, is an institution grounded in science. We believe in evidence-based medicine and we create standard work according to the evidence. We welcome people to come forward with new theories, but we make our decisions based on the preponderance of the evidence. As the evidence changes, we adjust our decisions. 

As many people will head back indoors this fall, and the delta coronavirus becomes prominent in Maryland, we may see epidemics of disease among those who have not been vaccinated. We must be ready for this possibility. 

Resources to help answer questions about the vaccine, safety, side effects, and more can be found here or via our Employee Hotline form. To make vaccination as easy as possible, employees may receive the vaccine through GBMC by completing this form, which is also located on the Infoweb. Alternatively, the COVID-19 vaccine is available through your GBMC Health Partners primary care provider and it is also offered throughout the community. You can even text your ZIP code to GETVAX (438829) for a listing of clinics in your neighborhood. Please note that if you receive the COVID-19 vaccine outside of GBMC, you will be required to provide proof of vaccination to Employee Health, as we do for influenza vaccine. 

I have been fully vaccinated, as has my whole family. Thank you for working with us to keep our patients and each other safe. 

Juneteenth, the new federal holiday
President Biden signed legislation yesterday making today the first federal Juneteenth holiday in our nation’s history. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is an annual holiday observing the end of slavery and marks the day when people in Galveston, Texas, received news of emancipation. 

Let’s use this as a day of reflection and advocacy to stand firm against systemic oppression and racial inequities in our country. 

The Passing of a Great Physician
Yesterday, I attended the funeral services for Joseph Patrick Connelly Jr., MD, family physician at GBMC’s Hunt Manor practice, who passed away last week. Dr. Connelly cared for patients for almost 40 years and has been a member of the GBMC family since 2009. He loved being a physician and had such amazing devotion to his patients. We will miss him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Carla, and the rest of Joe’s family.

Go on a walk or a run for a great cause!
This Sunday, June 20, we’re holding the 33rd Annual GBMC Father’s Day 5K & 1 Mile Fun Walk, now with both in-person and virtual options, to benefit the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  

We are fortunate to have a fabulous NICU with excellent clinicians and cutting-edge equipment. The equipment and staffing required to provide the care for our sick or premature babies is expensive and the funds raised from our annual Father’s Day 5K defray these costs. Please support this year’s event and consider walking a mile or running a 5K. Encourage your family to join you! Please visit www.gbmc.org/5k for more information and to register or donate to the cause. Remember that your support will directly benefit the more than 400 critically ill and premature babies cared for annually in GBMC’s NICU. Thank you!

…also, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers in our GBMC family!