POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Dutchess County hospitals are the second-worst in the state of having workers fully vaccinated, a state Department of Health survey shows, with the low rate driven by hospitals operated by Nuvance Health.
Only 63% of Dutchess County’s hospital workers are fully vaccinated, the second-worst percentage of all New York state counties with hospitals, according to the survey as of Wednesday, Sept. 8. The statewide rate is 80%.
According to the individual hospital data as of Sept. 7 (PDF), 54% of workers at Vassar Brothers Medical Center and 64% of workers at Northern Dutchess Hospital are fully vaccinated. Both facilities are operated by Nuvance Health. The other hospital in Dutchess County, MidHudson Regional Hospital, operated by Westchester Medical Center, has a full vaccination rate of 88%, the survey showed.
At the bottom of the statewide survey was Putnam County with 55%. The only hospital in that county, Putnam Hospital Center, also is operated by Nuvance, the data showed.
Only one hospital in New York state had a worse rate than Vassar Brothers. The survey showed that St. Joseph Hospital in Chemung County had a rate of 52%.
By comparison, the survey found that 74% of hospital workers in Ulster County are fully vaccinated.
The data showed that Ellenville Regional Hospital has a vaccination rate of 79%. The one listing for HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley in Kingston, which is operated by Westchester Medical Center, showed a full vaccination rate of 73%.
Columbia Memorial Hospital, operated by Albany Medical Center, showed a full vaccination rate of 83%.
In mid-August, New York state ordered hospital and nursing home workers to get COVID-19 inoculations. The deadline for the first shot is set for Monday, Sept. 27.
Nuvance Health offered up three bullet point responses to an inquiry about the survey, although its answers focused more on a system-wide basis than Dutchess County in particular.
Nuvance said that:
• “As of Aug. 13, about 70 percent of our health system staff had been vaccinated. The other 30 percent had a status of unknown, meaning they were either not vaccinated or did not self-report vaccination to us.”
• “On Aug. 17, Nuvance Health announced that all members of its workforce are required to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment or the provision of services at Nuvance Health. The deadline to be fully vaccinated is Oct. 1.”
• “As of Friday, Sept. 3, Nuvance Health received proof of vaccination from more than 500 of our New York-based healthcare workers above what we had previously received. In addition, another 400 New York-based healthcare workers scheduled vaccine appointments at one of our upcoming staff-only vaccine clinics, in order to complete their vaccination series before Oct. 1.”
In an August press release, Nuvance Health President Dr. John Murphy said that getting vaccinated is important.
“We believe requiring vaccinations is the right thing to do because we have an ethical obligation to protect our patients and each other,” Murphy said. “Furthermore, there is abundant evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 in a majority of people.”
Representatives from Westchester Medical Center could not be immediately reached for comment.
By the numbers
Dutchess County, which had reported coronavirus deaths for six straight days as of Tuesday for a total of 473 since the pandemic began in March 2020, reported no new deaths on Wednesday, according to its dashboard on Tuesday.
Dutchess has recorded 26 coronavirus deaths since the beginning of August. By comparison, from the beginning of May to the beginning of August, Dutchess lost only five residents to COVID.
Dutchess County also reported Wednesday that it had 41 people hospitalized for COVID-19, unchanged from a day before.
Dutchess reported Wednesday that it had 731 active cases as of Monday, down seven from the previous day. The peak was 2,576 on Jan. 16.
In all, Dutchess has had 32,529 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
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Ulster County reported Wednesday that it had 633 COVID-19 active cases on Sept. 7, down six from the previous day.
The county reported Wednesday that its seven-day positivity rate has spiked up to 7.9%.
Of the most recent 784 people tested, 68 came up positive for COVID-19.
Ulster County reported on Wednesday that it had 17,182 confirmed cases, 16,275 recoveries, and 274 deaths. No new deaths were reported Wednesday.
Vaccination rates
As of Wednesday according to New York state’s online vaccine tracker:
• Ulster County: 62.7% of the population fully vaccinated, 69.7% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 79.7% of people ages 18 and older with at least one dose.
• Dutchess County: 57.6% fully vaccinated, 64.7% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 74.8% of the 18+ population with at least one dose.
• Appointments: vaccinateulster.com, bit.ly/dut-vax, bit.ly/ny-vaxme.
For online local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to dailyfreeman.com/tag/coronavirus.
