Spectrum Health, a 14-hospital network in western Michigan, says it will mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for employees, volunteers and contractors -- becoming at least the third hospital system in the state to announce the requirement.

Grand Rapids-based Spectrum, which has 31,000 employees, joins the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Livonia-based Trinity Health. About 70 percent of Spectrum's onsite staff are vaccinated.

President and CEO Tina Freese Decker says the step will save lives and shorten the impact of the pandemic "both clear benefits to the public good."