Baptist Health to pay employees to work the polls in November

To help fill a critical need for precinct election officers in Kentucky and Indiana, Baptist Health is paying its employees to work at the polls in the Nov. 3 General Election.

The move came after requests from Baptist Health employees, and from civic leaders in the communities served by the nine-hospital system. Poll workers are the community members who greet voters at their local precinct, check their registration, and direct them to voting booths.

“Poll workers are crucial to making democracy happen,” said Gerard Colman, Baptist Health CEO. “We encourage our employees – and all those in our communities – to volunteer on Election Day, to educate themselves about the candidates and to vote.”

“I would also add that it is important to our community that all employers encourage their employees to vote. It is so important for everyone to have a voice,” added Anthony Powers, Baptist Health Corbin President.

Baptist Health joins a long list of companies encouraging workers to fill more than one million election worker positions nationally. Traditionally, a majority of these workers are senior citizens – and many may not want to serve this year because of health risks posed by the pandemic.

“I’m grateful to Baptist Health for allowing their employees to serve as poll workers while still getting paid for their day jobs. Democracy is a team sport and we need the help of private citizens and the private sector. Baptist Health has set a standard that I hope others will follow,” said Michael Adams, Kentucky Secretary of State.

Baptist Health is the state’s largest health system, with more than 22,000 employees in Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Baptist Health Corbin is a 273-bed, acute care facility providing a wide variety of healthcare services to the residents of Whitley, Knox, Laurel, Bell, Clay, McCreary, Harlan and Campbell counties in Kentucky and nearby Jellico, Tennessee.

Formerly known as the Baptist Regional Medical Center, the hospital includes outpatient diagnostic, home care, occupational medicine and physical therapy clinics. Baptist Health has a network of healthcare providers for patients in the Southeast Kentucky area – from Baptist Health Medical Group offices, to Baptist Health Urgent Care and Baptist Health Express Care inside Walmart.

Background on signing up to be a poll worker

To see if poll workers are still needed in your county or precinct. In Kentucky, check this list of county clerks by county and their contact information at https://www.kentuckycountyclerks.com. In Indiana, search for your county election administrator and contact information at https://indianavoters.in.gov/CountyContact/Index.

To learn more about serving as a precinct election officer in Kentucky, go to https://elect.ky.gov/Voters/Pages/Become-a-Precinct-Election-Officer.aspx. Submit your name to be contacted about possibly serving as a precinct election officer at https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb/pollworker/

To learn more about serving as a poll worker in Indiana and to sign up, go to https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/files/2018%20Poll%20Worker%20Information%20Guide.pdf