PRESS RELEASE
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Sept. 22, 2020) – HonorHealth, a leading Valley healthcare system and the largest employer in the City of Scottsdale, opposes efforts to rescind or rollback face covering mandates in our community.
Removal of face covering mandates would have a negative impact on the health of our community and may reverse the progress we have made over the past few months with declining COVID-19 infection rates and deaths in Arizona. “Not only have we seen less spread since the implementation of mask mandates, our physicians and staff were noticeably encouraged by the symbolism of the community doing all they could do to help reduce the spread of this disease,” said Todd LaPorte, HonorHealth CEO.
Hospitalization levels today are more manageable than they were this summer, in part because of masking. The virus is still very prevalent in our community, the rate of immunity is low and it is predicted that we will see another surge later this year based on patterns observed in other parts of the world. While everyone desires a “return to normal,” at this point there is still a substantial risk posed by COVID-19 and this is not the time to let our guard down.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorses masking as the primary means to reduce the spread of infection. Efforts to remove these mandates send the wrong message to our community and to those who provide care for our community members – our physicians and our nurses.
About HonorHealth
HonorHealth is a non-profit, healthcare system serving an area of 1.6 million people in the greater Phoenix area. The network encompasses six acute-care hospitals, an extensive medical group, outpatient surgery centers, a cancer care network, clinical research, medical education, a foundation and community services with approximately 12,300 employees, 3,700 affiliated physicians and 3,100 volunteers. HonorHealth was formed by a merger between Scottsdale Healthcare and John C. Lincoln Health Network. HonorHealth’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of those we serve. Learn more at HonorHealth.com.