The vaccination deadline has come and gone for staff at the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, who has now achieved 100% full vaccination among employees, physicians, volunteers, students and contractors.
That accounts for roughly 1,450 workers who are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Friday, marked the deadline for remaining unvaccinated staff to have received their first dose of vaccination or face termination. STEGH reports that as a result of their vaccination status, 9 unvaccinated staff from various hospital programs, 5 of which were part time or casual roles, have had their employment terminated.
Of these employees, 6 are clinical staff and 3 are non-clinical. An additional 3 staff members remain on a leave of absence while they complete the process of becoming vaccinated.
“I am proud of our teams for taking action and showing how important it is to be vaccinated,” says Karen Davies, President & CEO. “With an increasing number of COVID-19 cases in our region and many unvaccinated COVID-19 positive patients in our hospital, we have an obligation to do our part to minimize the risk of the spread of COVID-19.
When myFM last spoke with Davies, she stressed that all restrictions implemented at the hospital are there to keep all staff and patients as safe as possible.
She adds that the hospital continues to work with staff to make sure they are not just physically healthy, but also mentally.
At the time mandatory vaccination was announced, 98% of workers were already fully vaccinated or in the process of becoming fully vaccinated.
