Dozens of staff at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance are being affected by COVID-19, either contracting the virus or coming into contact with a confirmed case.
As of Friday’s update from CKHA, 85 employees were off work.
CEO Lori Marshall says there are some instances where certain staff who may have been exposed to the virus are still able to come into work while in isolation.
“From time to time we may have someone who could be a high risk contact, they’re not symptomatic, they’re not testing positive, but in the previous wave those individuals would have been at home. With the support of Public Health and ongoing monitoring, we’re able to have those individuals come in, go directly to work, and go home again.”
Chatham-Kent’s Medical Officer, Dr. David Colby says it’s a unique situation.
“The principles we all agree on and understand, that we want to minimize transmission to others and create a safe care environment for patients and a safe work environment for staff,” Dr. Colby explains “There are lots of jobs in the hospital that maybe the public doesn’t always appreciate, don’t involve patient contact and may involve people working in an office, not in contact with anyone else.”
Dr. Colby says the decision to have some staff isolate at work is complex and made based on the number of staff affected by the virus and the number of patients in the hospital.