Monument Health Requiring Doctors, Staff To Be Vaccinated

    Rapid City-based Monument Health System is joining dozens of other health care systems across the country in requiring its physicians and caregivers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, effective Dec 1. 

       Monument, which has 5 hospitals and 38 medical clinics and specialty centers, will consider exemption requests for specific conditions and religious beliefs. 

    The vaccination mandate comes as the highly transmissible COVID Delta variant has been spreading rapidly in western South Dakota. 

     The number of new weekly West River coronavirus cases has nearly tripled over the last 3 weeks with Monument Health treating a record number of hospitalized patients.