RALEIGH — Two local health care systems are nearing a full vaccination status for employees while nearly all state-operated health care facilities are compliant with the vaccine mandate issued this summer.

“Cape Fear Valley Health saw 98 employees (1.2%) voluntarily leave employment rather than choose to take a COVID-19 vaccine. That number breaks down to 62 full-time, 3 part-time, and 33 per diem employees,” stated Michael Nagowski, CEO of the health care system in a recent email to system leadership.

More than 98.8% of the system’s estimated 7,500-strong workforce are now fully or partially vaccinated against COVID-19, he said.

There were 202 employees granted medical or religious exemptions, according to Nagowski.

The Cape Fear Valley Health system operates Cape Fear Valley Primary Care-Lumberton located at 588 Bailey Road and Three Rivers Medical Center located at 580 W. McLean St. in St. Pauls, among other locations outside of Robeson County.

The health care system announced on Aug. 5 that its employees must have the COVID-19 vaccine. The deadline for employees to receive their shots was Oct. 1, according to Roxana Ross, Communications coordinator at CFVH.

New hires will receive the vaccine “moving forward,” Ross said.

“We are very glad that so many of our employees chose to get vaccinated, and we are still hopeful that many of the people who left over this issue will decide to get vaccinated in the future,” Nagowski wrote.

UNC Health Southeastern has about 96% of its employees vaccinated across its health system, as of Tuesday, according to Amanda Crabtree, a spokesperson for the hospital.

Patrick Ebri, UNC Health Southeastern vice president and chief engagement officer, said that about 95% of employees systemwide had by Sept. 22 received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The hospital system announced July 23 it would require all employees to be vaccinated or face possible termination by Sept. 21. The system extended the deadline to Oct. 20 for all staff members in its system to be vaccinated.

Staff members who refuse the vaccine by the deadline will face “further disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment,” Ebri said.

Nearly all 10,000 employees at state-operated health care facilities are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and compliant with a mandatory vaccination requirement, according a Monday announcement by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

The department’s Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities, a state-operated health care system comprised of 14 facilities, moved to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in July.

Sixteen individuals were dismissed for non-compliance with the policy’s vaccination deadline of Sept. 30. Approximately 6% of DSOHF employees received exemptions from the policy with medical, religious, and other reasonable accommodations consistent with implementation of Equal Employment Opportunity standards under the American with Disabilities Act.

“We could not be prouder of our employees for recognizing the essential role vaccination plays in protecting everyone in our facilities. For the work they do and the challenges they continue to overcome, they are nothing less than heroes,” said Kody H. Kinsley, chief deputy secretary for Health. “The small number of employee dismissals is a testament to the fact that vaccine mandates are an effective tool to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.”

At the end of June, DSOHF had voluntary COVID-19 vaccination rates higher than 75% for its 10,000 employees. This was the culmination of a vaccination campaign organized around education, equity, universal access and person-centered outreach.

Shortly after North Carolina health systems and leading health care organizations announced the need for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, DSOHF established its own mandatory vaccination policy, with Sept. 30 as the deadline. DSOHF implemented a supportive disciplinary process to maximize both employee compliance and retention. As a result, DSOHF has dismissed 16 employees.

“Our system is a safety-net in every sense of the term,” said Dr. Carrie Brown, Chief Medical Officer for Behavioral Health and Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities for NCDHHS. “We care for patients and residents with some of the most complicated combinations of physical and behavioral health conditions, including those affected by social determinants of health, such as lack of health insurance. It is essential we do everything in our power to protect those we have the privilege of serving, as well as our extraordinary colleagues who have dedicated their lives to this work.”

COVID-19 vaccines offer significant protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death. People who are not fully vaccinated are more than 18 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people who are fully vaccinated, according to the NCDHHS.

Free COVID-19 vaccines are widely available across the state to anyone 12 and older. To get a vaccine near you, visit MySpot.nc.gov or call 888-675-4567. You can also text your zip code to 438829 to find vaccine locations near you.