A dozen staff are on unpaid leave for not meeting the Timmins hospital's COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
At the beginning of September, Timmins and District Hospital announced a strict COVID-19 vaccination policy requiring all staff, physicians, contractors, students and volunteers working on-site to be fully vaccinated or provide a medical reason for not being vaccinated by Oct. 29.
Before implementing the policy last Friday, communications specialist Kaileigh Russell said there was a 99 per cent vaccination rate at the hospital.
"A total of 12 staff members, including administrative and clinical staff in full-time, part-time and casual roles, are not vaccinated and/or have not submitted their documentation and have been placed on an unpaid leave of absence. We are not anticipating any disruptions to patient care and/or programs/services as a result of the implementation of our COVID-19 Immunization Policy," she said.
Hospitals and home and community care service providers are required to have a vaccination policy under a directive issued by Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore.
The province has also asked for input about a provincial vaccine mandate for hospital staff from hospitals, local medical officers of health and other healthcare providers. The deadline for that was Oct. 19.
Yesterday, according to the Canadian Press, Health Minister Christine Elliott said that the government has enough submissions to proceed with reviewing them in detail.
