With just days before a mandatory vaccination policy comes into effect at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, hospital officials are pleased with the rising numbers.
Hospitals in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia, Windsor, and Leamington announced a joint mandatory vaccination policy at the beginning of September, which goes into effect on October 31st.
As of Wednesday, CEO Lori Marshall says 97.2% of CKHA staff and 98.4% of physicians have been fully vaccinated.
“We’ve said all along since the beginning of the pandemic that our focus is on safety and making sure that CKHA is a safe place for people to receive care and also a safe place for people to practice and work,” Marshall says. “This mandatory vaccination policy is our commitment to the community and the organization itself that we are able to provide that environment.”
As it stands, 27 staff members, both clinical and non-clinical, are expected to be laid off once the policy comes into effect on Sunday.
“CKHA is filled with wonderful people, there isn’t anyone we wouldn’t be sad to see leave, but people are able to make those choices on their own,” Marshall says. “With that, we are recruiting and looking to see where any gaps might be, but we don’t have any particular areas where we would have any concern that our services will be impacted by that number of individuals leaving CKHA.”
