Hospital officials are in risk assessment mode as the deadline for the CKHA’s vaccination policy looms.
CEO Lori Marshall says of the more than 1300 CKHA staff, there are 54 individuals who have been hesitant to either get the vaccine or reveal their vaccination status, which could lead to their dismissal at the end of the month.
“While the numbers are significant, it is a very low percentage at the organization and we are still hopeful that between now and October 31st we may be able to have some other decisions,” Marshall says. She is hoping there won’t have to be any layoffs come the end of the month, but says they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it.
Chief Nursing Executive Meredith Whitehead says the organization is weighing the risk of potentially losing staff with the overall impact it would make on the hospital and patient care.
“We know that for the staff that have already been adamant that this was their choice and they will not be continuing their employment on the 31st of October, those jobs have already been posted,” Whitehead says. “The leadership teams are reviewing all the positions, they’re being evaluated mostly from a perspective of can we move some of our positions that are part time and create full-time positions for those, therefore decreasing the number of individuals we need, just increasing their hours.”
As it stands, 88% of staff at CKHA are fully vaccinated, and 7.4% have received one shot and should be fully protected by the end of the month. 97% of physicians working at the hospital have been fully vaccinated with another 1.6% partially vaccinated.
For now, staff who are not fully vaccinated have to undergo antigen testing twice a week and complete a daily screening before coming to work.
Hospital officials are working with a small number of people who have requested a medical or human rights exemption.
Marshall says exemptions under human rights code only apply to religions or creeds that specifically prohibit vaccination, not based on individual choice or interpretation of doctrine.