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Arkansas hospitals see rise in employee vaccinations

Officials with Jefferson Regional in Pine Bluff and Arkansas Heart Hospital said they are seeing more employees get the shot.

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — When vaccinations were made available to healthcare workers months ago, some were hesitant about getting them. 

The state is now reporting over 1,000 COVID-19 cases, and some frontline workers are rethinking the decision to get a shot. 

"It's getting really bad and it's affecting younger people, which has kind of hit home for me obviously," said Michael Acosta, an ICU nurse at Jefferson Regional in Pine Bluff.

He admits that when the vaccine became available for frontline workers, he was not among those who were first in line. 

"I was very hesitant about it. I never got it, I never got sick, nobody in my family got sick, and I was like, 'I'm not worried about getting COVID," Acosta said.

Two weeks ago, he said he changed his mind. He and nearly 150 other employees at the hospital have been vaccinated in the last month.

"It's rough, that's really what made me decide to get it. Seeing all of these patients up here really suffering and we can't do anything about it now," Acosta said. 

Dr. Bruce Murphy is the CEO of Arkansas Heart Hospital and he said in all departments they are seeing more employees who are getting the shot.

"We've been pressing the issue of employee vaccinations for a long time," Murphy said. 

He believes the uptick in employee vaccinations comes from fear of the aggressive delta variant.

"I think they're scared of what they're seeing in the news every night and what they are seeing inside of our own hospital," Murphy said. 

Both hospitals have started an employee incentive program that they hope will encourage more to get the shot.

Acosta and Murphy are preaching a familiar message of the importance of getting vaccinated. 

"So if you're hesitant about the vaccine, the time to get it is now," Murphy said. 

"When they come to ICU, that's one of the first things they ask, 'can I get the vaccine' and at the point, I have to tell them it's too late," Acosta said.

    

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