Hospitals shed staff who haven’t gotten jabs

Several Ontario hospitals have placed staff on unpaid leave or terminated them due to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies, but they say the numbers are relatively low and won’t affect patient care.

A spokesperson for Cambridge Memorial Hospital said 51 staff members who either haven’t been vaccinated or won’t share their status have been placed on leave.

“Because it is a low number and it is spread across corporate and clinical services, we are confident there will be no impacts to patient care,” Stephan Beckhoff said in a statement.

Nearly 97 per cent of staff are either fully or partially vaccinated and have attested they will have both doses by Nov. 9, he said.

St. Mary’s General Hospital expects to put around 30 staff members on unpaid leave Wednesday.

Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor, Ont., said it terminated 24 employees with cause last week, and since that amounts to just two per cent of its workforce it is well able to fill gaps to cover schedules.

“We developed contingency plans well in advance of the policy deadline including the twoweek unpaid suspension of employees who were not complying with the policy at that time,” spokesperson Bill Marra said in a written statement.

“With a 98 per cent compliance rate at the deadline, we are very much able to accommodate all gaps in our schedules.”

There has been no impact on the delivery of programs and services, he said.

The 24 employees include eight registered practical nurses, five registered nurses, as well as environmental service workers, rehab assistants, administrative staff and others.

The Wellington Health Care Alliance will put two per cent of its staff who haven’t received a first dose on leave Wednesday. It amounts to 14 people over three sites and a spokesperson said they don’t expect any disruptions to hospital services or programs.

Many more hospitals have set mandatory vaccination deadlines of Friday or 31, as well as a few other dates.