Hebrew SeniorLife Makes COVID-19 Vaccination a Condition of Employment

Hebrew SeniorLife, New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior health care and living communities, and the only senior care organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School, today announced that it will make it a condition of employment that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The requirement will go into effect October 1, 2021, even if, by then, final U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval is not yet granted for the three vaccines currently in the market. Starting today, all new hires will be required to have a vaccination before their start date.

Lou Woolf, Hebrew SeniorLife President and CEO said, “Hebrew SeniorLife’s commitment is to help every senior live their best lives. The COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges to that resolve every day. I’m so immensely proud of our employees who have stayed strong and courageous in the face of risk to themselves and their families, true to our values, and committed through this pandemic, no matter how challenging.

“Now that we’ve seen the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, we feel it’s our moral obligation to deploy them to their full extent, like we do all other tools at our disposal, to keep our patients, residents, and employees as safe as we possibly can.”

Factoring in the uptick of people testing positive for COVID-19, including the highly infectious Delta variant, Hebrew SeniorLife set October 1, 2021 as the deadline for all employees who wish to continue to work at the organization to be fully vaccinated. Employees will be able to request a medical or religious exemption.

With one of the highest vaccination rates for senior care organizations – almost 100 percent for patients and residents and 84 percent for employees – Hebrew SeniorLife has led the way in vaccination in its senior care and living settings since it began its COVID-19 vaccination program at the end of December 2020.

About Hebrew SeniorLife

Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 3,000 seniors a day across six campuses throughout Greater Boston. Our locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; and Jack Satter House, Revere. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, which has a portfolio of more than $63 million, making it the largest gerontological research facility in the U.S. in a clinical setting. It also trains more than 1,000 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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