127 Morristown Medical Center Staff Had COVID In The Past Month

MORRISTOWN, NJ — State officials have reported 127 COVID-19 cases among Morristown Medical Center staff in the past 30 days. The figure represents less than 2 percent of hospital staff, but New Jersey continues to report increases in hospital workers catching the virus.

The New Jersey Department of Health shares the number of staff cases at hospitals for the past 30 days. Morristown Medical Center has reported more than any in the state, but the hospital also has significantly more employees than almost any in New Jersey. Morristown Medical Center's staff of more than 7,000 exceeds most New Jersey hospitals by six-fold or more, according to figures from the NJBIZ 2020 hospital directory.

But as COVID-19 cases spike through New Jersey, infections among hospital staff continue to increase. The state health department has reported at least 100 new cases per day among hospital employees since Wednesday. In the past 30 days, 20.85 percent of cases among New Jersey hospital staff have come from workplace activity, while officials attributed the rest to community spread.

Morristown Medical Center remains "ready and able to safely care for every patient who needs us," according to Lucas Margolis, Atlantic Health System's director of corporate communications. Margolis sent Patch the following statement via email:

"The safety of our team and patients is our highest priority, as evidenced by our mandatory policies around team member vaccination and strict use of masking as well as temperature and symptom screening for anyone on site at our hospital; in addition all admitted patients are tested for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19 disease. However, no matter how strong the guidelines - or effective the vaccine - cases of COVID-19 amongst health care workers do occur.

Health care workers are active members of the same communities where new variants have increased the spread of this virus. We expect and mandate that no health care worker who has symptoms or a significant exposure to someone with COVID-19 goes to work. These strict practices are then reported to the state. As noted in the state’s dashboard, one percent of the more than seven thousand team members at Morristown Medical Center tested positive for COVID-19 at some point in the last 30 days. Most importantly, as it has throughout the pandemic, Morristown Medical Center remains ready and able to safely care for every patient who needs us."

The New Jersey Hospital Association also recently urged people not to delay medical care, including trips to the hospital.

The organization discovered a significant increase in deaths at home during 2020 — 95,715 overall, with COVID-19 listed as the primary cause for 16,548 people. Deaths at home never exceeded 76,000 in a single year from 2017-19, according to the New Jersey Hospital Association.

“It’s impossible to know whether these excess deaths could have been prevented with timely access to hospital care,” said Sean Hopkins, senior vice president of the NJHA's Center for Health Analytics, Research and Transformation. “But the trends are troubling, and they reinforce a critical message during a public health emergency: Please don’t delay seeking the care you need.”

The state health department reported 1,902 active hospitalizations among COVID-19 patients as of Sunday — New Jersey's highest total since April 23.

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