Will Hamilton Health Sciences fire 184 workers as vaccine mandate takes effect?

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is poised to fire up to 184 staff Wednesday as its vaccine mandate takes effect.

The likely terminations come as the NDP calls on the province to step in to help Hamilton's struggling hospitals, which have been stretched beyond capacity" by the Omicron-driven fifth wave.

Four more Hamiltonians have died of COVID as the city has seen a sharp increase in pandemic deaths.

There has also been a swift rise in cases in some of the city's 33 outbreaks at seniors' homes.

The health-care system in Hamilton is under immense strain," stated a letter to Premier Doug Ford on Tuesday from Hamilton New Democrat MPPs Andrea Horwath, Monique Taylor, Sandy Shaw and Paul Miller. The increased strain ... needs to be urgently addressed."

HHS has 184 unvaccinated staff at risk of losing their jobs if they don't get a shot by Wednesday. The hospital network has already fired 39 staff who refused to comply with vaccination rules.

While the holdouts account for fewer than two per cent of the hospital network's workforce of 13,510, the potential loss comes at a time when staff shortages have forced the closure of the HHS West End Clinic, which provides urgent care and had been administering COVID shots.

In addition, 15 patients have been transferred since Jan. 9 out of an area that includes Hamilton, Burlington, Niagara, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk.

One of the critical issues has been high numbers of Hamilton hospital staff self-isolating - 509 on Tuesday, including 345 from HHS. While absences are now half of the 1,032 they were at on Jan. 17, it's still high enough to require urgent measures.

HHS declined to answer questions Tuesday about whether the vaccine mandate will go ahead Wednesday as planned or how many at risk of being fired are front-line workers currently on the job.

We will have further information to share on Jan. 27 as these notices are currently being processed," HHS said in a statement. We are grateful to the majority of HHS staff and physicians - upwards of 98 per cent - who have chosen to get vaccinated to protect our patients and each other."

Hamilton's hospitals have seen slight relief this week, but are still strained," said infectious disease physician Dr. Dominik Mertz.

HHS and St. Joseph's Healthcare were caring for 255 COVID patients Tuesday - down from 309 on Jan. 17. However, it's still well above the previous high before Omicron of 161 during the third wave in April.

We are still challenged absolutely," said Mertz. But it ... is going in the right direction."

He stressed it's slow improvement from the most strained we've ever had."

The city's intensive care units (ICU) were caring for 34 COVID patients, which pushed St. Joseph's to well over occupancy.

Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are being watched closely as a lack of testing has made other pandemic metrics unreliable.

Death is also a key indicator, with Hamilton reporting a spike of 28 COVID deaths from Jan. 19 to Jan 25. To be counted among the city's 465 pandemic deaths, there can't be an alternative cause. The death must be related to COVID.

Of the four deaths reported Tuesday, one was a senior in their 80s, two were residents in their 70s and one was a Hamiltonian in their 60s.

We do expect hospital admissions, ICU admissions and eventually deaths to lag behind by a couple of weeks," said Mertz. What we typically see is the cases going up, which really took off over the holidays with probably all those social gatherings contributing. We probably peaked over the last week or two in terms of case numbers - we don't really know because we don't test as much anymore ... We still see the impact of the peak of the wave with deaths unfortunately continuing for probably a couple more weeks."

The city has reported deaths in a number of outbreaks at seniors' homes including two each at the Wellington Nursing Home, where 74 have been infected, and Victoria Gardens Long Term Care, where 30 have tested positive.

One death has been reported at Regina Gardens Long Term Care Residence with 28 cases, First Place Hamilton Seniors Residence with 31 cases and the Meadows Long Term Care Home, where the number infected has soared to 69.

A death was inexplicably removed Tuesday from the Clarion Nursing Home, where 37 have been infected.

There are also large outbreaks at Arbour Creek Care Centre, where cases increased to 86, and Heritage Green Nursing Home, where 95 have tested positive. The outbreak cases are despite many residents now having four shots.

Mertz says the reason for that is that the vaccines are good at preventing severe illness but not as successful at stopping transmission, particularly against Omicron and among those who don't produce as strong of an immune response.

Of Hamilton's 72 active outbreaks, 17 were in group homes, community living and assisted living, nine were in shelters, two in jails, one at a farm and one at a rehabilitation centre.

Hamilton's hospitals have seen a significant decrease in outbreaks to nine on Tuesday - eight at HHS and one at St. Joseph's. It compares to 20 on Jan. 20.

Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com