Small percentage of staff have been terminated for refusing to comply with vaccination policy, says SAH

Sault Area Hospital, as reported earlier, has tightened the rules regarding COVID vaccination of its staff members.

In August, SAH announced it would implement a Mandatory Health Care Worker Vaccine Policy requiring all new employees, volunteers, physicians, students, medical learners and contractors comply with a new vaccination policy effective Sept. 7. Current unvaccinated employees were required to take part in regular rapid antigen POC testing and provide proof of negative test results.

Beginning Nov. 8, SAH’s policy will extend to mandatory vaccination for all workers, including existing employees.

“Currently, a small number of employees, 0.01 per cent (less than five), have been terminated as they refused to comply with the policy (would not provide documentation, would not be vaccinated, would not be tested) ... the updated policy sets out clear timelines for existing employees to become fully vaccinated in order to continue to work at SAH. We continue to work with and support approximately 70 of 1,766 active employees who remain not yet vaccinated,” stated SAH spokesperson Brandy Sharp Young in an email.

“Moreover, twice-weekly point of care rapid antigen testing is not a sustainable practice and is a short-term strategy to assist employees towards compliance with full vaccination,” an earlier SAH release states.        

“The updated policy sets out clear timelines for existing employees to become fully vaccinated to continue to work at SAH,” Sharp Young wrote.

When asked if there will be any exceptions for employees who have certain health issues which may be worsened through vaccination, Sharp Young replied “we will continue to allow for Human Rights Code exceptions, such as for medically contraindicated individuals.”

SAH’s decision to extend mandatory vaccination to all of its employees comes after Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that Ontario won't make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for those working in healthcare.

Ford, however, said “our government has decided to maintain its flexible approach by leaving human resourcing decisions up to individual hospitals."

Ford said Ontario hospitals already have effective high vaccination rates.

The premier also expressed concern over news of cancelled surgeries and tests in B.C. after that province’s vaccine mandate went into place. More than 3,000 unvaccinated healthcare workers are now on unpaid leave in B.C., leading to hospital staff shortages.

Regardless, several Ontario hospitals, including SAH, have put mandatory staff vaccination policies in place.

While stating Ontario healthcare workers have a duty to get a third vaccine shot, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, at a news conference Wednesday, also urged still-unvaccinated healthcare workers to get their first and second shots.