McMaster Children’s Hospital warns against reopening too fast during fourth wave of COVID
McMaster Children's Hospital is urging Premier Doug Ford to be cautious in reopening and double down on COVID measures that are working to keep schools open and kids safe.
Now is not the time to let down our guard," Bruce Squires, president of McMaster Children's, said in a statement. Maintaining a cautious and measured approach at this time is essential."
As the premier announced a comprehensive reopening plan Friday that will be made public next week, the Children's Health Coalition said it's critical to protect kids - especially those too young to get vaccinated.
Since schools have opened up for in-person learning in September, our provincial COVID-19 numbers have been stable and have been tracking within the best-case scenario," said the coalition, which includes McMaster and Ontario's other children's hospitals as well as a number of kids' health organizations.
Schools account for five of Hamilton's seven ongoing outbreaks, including a new one declared Thursday at Providence Christian School in Dundas.
Minimizing community spread will help protect children in all settings," stated the coalition.
Ford expressed concern Friday about the 15 per cent of health-care workers who haven't had a COVID shot. At Hamilton hospitals, about half that many are unvaccinated or haven't disclosed - roughly 1,500 out of 19,128 staff and physicians, or just under eight per cent.
Let me be clear, every hospital worker should be vaccinated," said Ford.
However, he worried an Ontario-wide mandate would exacerbate existing staff shortages, pointing out that Quebec and British Columbia had to soften or postpone their plans because of the potential effect on the health-care system.
Ontario is currently requiring staff to disclose their vaccination status as well as mandating education and regular testing for the unvaccinated. Individual hospitals have been given the flexibility to put in stricter measures, resulting in a patchwork of policies across the province.
At a time when our doctors and nurses are already stretched to their limits - especially in northern and rural areas - we can't afford to lose qualified staff," said Ford. This is a very complex issue with real risks on either side."
The premier pointed out Ontario has reported just two hospital outbreaks in the last two weeks and characterized them as small. While he did not name them, Hamilton has had two hospital outbreaks within that time frame, including one that turned deadly.
An outbreak in the burn trauma unit at Hamilton General Hospital saw seven staff and one patient infected from Sept. 27 to Oct. 10. One person died.
A kidney unit was closed to new admissions at the Charlton Campus of St. Joseph's Healthcare due to an ongoing and increasing outbreak where two staff, three patients and one visitor tested positive since Oct. 9.
Hamilton's hospitals plan to bring in mandatory vaccination for staff in November - Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) will start Nov. 30, while St. Joseph's hasn't named a specific date. Staff and physicians who remain unvaccinated or refuse to disclose at that time face suspensions or even termination.
HHS, which is the city's largest employer, already started rolling out discipline last week to those refusing to meet the province's minimum requirements.
CEO Rob MacIsaac dismissed concerns the vaccine mandate will make existing staff shortages worse, saying HHS will be prudent" about how it implements the policy.
There is no doubt you can maintain continuity of operations while enforcing a mandatory vaccination policy and that has been borne out in other hospitals in the province," he said in a staff town hall Oct. 7.
About 40 per cent of Ontario's hospitals already have stricter measures.
Chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, revealed Friday that all Ontario children's hospitals, cancer centres and organ transplant centres have announced mandatory vaccination - HHS includes a cancer centre and children's hospital, while St. Joseph's performs kidney transplants.
Where mandates have been put in place, I think it has been quite appropriate and it's been based on risk," said Moore.
He called it a personal obligation" for every health-care worker having contact with patients to be vaccinated and said that view is echoed by all professional colleges in Ontario.
It's a duty for every health-care worker to be immunized," said Moore. For 48 hours before you have symptoms, you could be carrying that virus and transmitting it within the work setting. We can all have the best infection prevention and control practices but we see there are ongoing gaps and risks to our patients."
Ford said he hasn't ruled out mandatory vaccination for hospital workers similar to what comes into effect Nov. 15 for long-term-care home staff. First, he's consulting Ontario's hospitals to fully understand the potential repercussions.
Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com