About 54 percent of Moore County's COVID-19 deaths are linked to outbreaks in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, but vaccine hesitancy has persisted among local long-term care workers. St. Joseph of the Pines recently became the second long-term care community in the area to make vaccinations mandatory for employees. The decision was announced on July 8 by Trinity Health, the company that owns St. Joseph of the Pines. âOver the last year, Trinity Health has counted our own colleagues and patients in the too-high coronavirus death toll.â Mike Slubowski, CEO and president of Trinity Health, said in a statement. âNow that we have a proven way to prevent COVID-19 deaths, we are not hesitating to do our part."