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Opinion | More Memphis hospitals are requiring their employees to get COVID-19 vaccines, but inexplicably two are not | Richard Ransom

“It's time for these non-profit hospitals to show they care about the greater good of the communities they serve.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In Tuesday’s Ransom Note: two down and two to go. Two more Memphis hospitals joined the ranks of those showing common sense by requiring their employees get the COVID-19 vaccine.

This week Regional One and Methodist Le Bonheur joined St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Memphis VA in mandating vaccinations. That's four of our six hospitals.

Granted, it took way too long. I'm not sure what the city's only public hospital and Methodist - Le Bonheur Children's Hospital" were waiting for. Not to mention giving employees until Halloween to get their shots is ridiculous, but okay. At least they saw the light.

That leaves the area's largest hospital system, Baptist Memorial Healthcare and St. Francis Hospitals as the lone hold-outs. The best Baptist can do is issue a statement saying it's "carefully evaluating the need" for mandatory vaccines and "assess(ing) what is right for our team and community."

Really, Baptist? What is there to evaluate? Do the caseloads need to increase by 300% instead of 200%? You are in the health care business, but by your own admission more than 40% of your 19,000 employees aren't vaccinated? It's time for these non-profit hospitals to show they care about the greater good of the communities they serve.

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