Another metro area hospital will require all employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Mercy Hospitals announced Wednesday beginning Sept. 30 all employees must be vaccinated for the coronavirus.
The hospital says the requirement comes as COVID-19 cases are increasing in communities in northeast Oklahoma and Arkansas, along with rapid increases in the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Missouri.
Mercy says a majority of the patients recently hospitalized for COVID have not been vaccinated.
Mercy joins more than 20 other health care organizations across the U.S. in requiring vaccines. Last week SSM Health, which operates St. Anthony's Hospital in Oklahoma City, announced it is requiring all employees to be vaccinated by the end of September.