Many Ontario hospitals are continuing their mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies for employees, even with staff shortages continuing to mount and several emergency departments being forced to close over the weekend..“Health-care workers deserve to feel safe and to deliver patient care in an environment that requires the highest level of protection available against COVID-19,” Ontario Hospital Association President and CEO Anthony Dale said..“Having unvaccinated workers in the workplace would not be supported by the tens of thousands of vaccinated staff working in Ontario’s hospitals today,” he said..Over the weekend, the Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital and Montfort Hospital in Ottawa made the decision to temporarily close their emergency rooms due to a lack of nurses. Montfort attributed the staffing difficulties to fatigue and burnout, COVID-19 related absences, and vacations. ."The decision to close the emergency, even for a few hours, is not easy to make, but we have to do it, to ensure our team is able to offer excellent, safe and compassionate care," Montfort Hospital said in a press release..According to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, last weekend six hospitals had to close departments, including ERs. But during a press conference on Tuesday, she argued the situation was not "unprecedented."."No, I'm sorry, it is not," Jones said to a reporter. "So, when there are ebbs and flows of a high incidence of people who are taking vacation, appropriately so, then we need to make sure that we have the systems in place."."My message to the people of Ontario is you have a government [that] is actively engaged and making sure you have a local hospital that is available, that is sufficiently staffed," Jones said..Towards the end of 2021, hospitals across Canada implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates for their employees. Tens of thousands of employees were let go for refusing to comply..The province of Quebec, which initially planned on enforcing a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, decided to backtrack in November 2021 after it would have lost 17,000 staff. The health ministry said the loss of unvaccinated staff would have had a “devastating effect on the system.".Ontario decided to forge ahead with its mandate, with hospitals eventually firing nearly 10,000 people. Back in October 2021, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore, said the province was watching closely for any “unintended consequence” of staff shortages related to vaccine mandates, but maintained that they are necessary in some jobs to protect the vulnerable..Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario CEO Doris Grinspun recently said she stands with hospitals' strict vaccine mandates..“The numbers are minimal, compared to the people who have left because of Bill 124 or the number of registered nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners who are waiting on the sidelines to be processed to practice, 26,000 of them,” Grinspun said..Bill Campbell, the media relations coordinator for the Ontario Ministry of Health, told the Western Standard organizations may choose to implement their own vaccination policies or requirements.."However, they must follow any applicable human rights, privacy, or other laws, and may wish to obtain independent legal advice that may be applicable in their specific circumstances," he added.
