St. Joe's staff who aren't fully vaccinated will be fired in late February

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton's mandatory vaccination policy for staff has come into effect and those who don't have two doses by Feb. 21 will be fired, according to an internal town hall.

Kellie Gamble, director of St. Joe's employee and labour relations, said on Dec. 3, roughly 97 per cent of staff and physicians were fully vaccinated.

On Dec. 6, staff who weren't following the testing and education requirements were put on a six-week unpaid leave.

At the time of the meeting, there were just 18 people not following those rules and the vast majority of them weren't nurses according to Gamble.

But the stakes are higher now.

"If they do not become compliant during their leave  they will be terminated," Gamble said.

As of Tuesday, those who don't have two doses will face progressive discipline which will culminate on Feb. 21.

"If they are not fully vaccinated by Feb. 21, 2022, they will be terminated. Those who are unvaccinated, including those with approved exceptions must continue testing after Dec. 14."

St. Joe's data posted Tuesday shows, out of the 5,835 staff, just four people are on unpaid leave as of Dec. 14. Twenty-six are partially vaccinated and 65 are either declining vaccination or haven't responded to the hospital's requests. Fewer than five people have a medical exemption.

"I am grateful to the overwhelming majority of healthcare workers who made the decision to get vaccinated," said St. Joe's president Melissa Farrell in a memo to staff on Tuesday.

The mandatory vaccination policy comes as cities try to wrangle to Omicron variant and comes after COVID-19 put unprecedented pressure on hospitals.

City data appears to show Hamilton is starting to see a fourth wave of COVID-19.

It's unclear how many of these cases are linked to Omicron. The first confirmed case linked to the variant was on Dec 5.

HHS to fire unvaccinated staff on Jan. 26

Hamilton Health Sciences, the other local hospital network, implemented mandatory vaccination on Nov. 30. 

Five days prior, roughly 360 staff and fewer than five physicians were unvaccinated. 

That means some 96 per cent of the staff is vaccinated.

Those still unvaccinated have received a notice of termination that comes into effect on Jan. 26.

Though, the hospital network said staff can save their jobs if they get their second dose before then.

"If you are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated at this time, I strongly urge you to choose to continue your employment with HHS and to visit your local vaccine clinic. There is still time to act," read a staff memo from president Rob MacIssac dated Nov. 25.

During an internal town hall meeting in October, he was more blunt.

"If you are relying on some manufactured and frankly simplistic legal argument about your individual right to work for a hospital while unvaccinated, you need to stop being so self-absorbed and start thinking about your duty to our patients, to your fellow workers and to our community," MacIsaac said on Oct. 7.