Date formatting doesn't work in Job offer letter template

Summary:

Hi All!

We are using format-date-nt expression for start date and end-date to avoid date discrepancy due to time zone conversion.

Expression used:
<?format-date-nt:Hire_Date;'MEDIUM'?>

It is making the date format look like this:

the Abstract format mask part ('MEDIUM') is not working as expected. I've tried using SHORT and LONG or specific format like 'MMMM-DD-YYYY' and nothing works. Also tried making the field a date in word and specify the format there, it doesn't work that way either.

Does anyone have an idea how to fix this?