St. Joe’s to move to mandatory vaccinations for staff in November

A growing COVID outbreak in the burn unit at Hamilton General Hospital has turned deadly.

The death in the outbreak - where all but one of the infected are staff - was made public one day before Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is expected to announce a stricter vaccine policy for its workers.

We are preparing to move forward with additional policy measures this week to close the remaining gap on reporting and vaccination compliance," HHS said in a statement Wednesday.

The hospital network is the largest employer in Hamilton and plans to provide further details after a town hall Thursday to inform its more than 11,750 staff and physicians.

St. Joseph's Healthcare said Wednesday it will move to mandatory vaccination in November for holdouts, with progressive disciplinary action for those who do not comply."

About 40 per cent of hospitals have already put in stronger measures above the bare minimum required by the province.

I support the hospitals that have moved to mandatory," said chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore. They are now achieving the rates that I think are high enough to protect their workforce as well as protect their patients."

The city doesn't provide details of outbreak deaths. But it reported a senior in their 70s with COVID had died at the same time a death was recorded on the burn trauma unit. Deaths of those infected with COVID are included regardless of whether the virus was determined to have contributed.

Of the city's 415 pandemic deaths, more than 80 per cent have been age 70 and older.

HHS has refused to provide additional details about the outbreak declared Sept. 27.

Cases increased Wednesday to seven staff infected - it was previously six - and one patient, said HHS.

Among the questions HHS won't answer is how it's protecting burn patients with weakened immune systems during the outbreak.

As with any outbreak inside our hospitals, we are taking every step necessary to mitigate any further impact to patients and staff," said HHS.

HHS also won't say how the outbreak started or the vaccination status of those infected, citing privacy requirements.

Moore said Tuesday that he believes it's a patient's right to know whether their health-care worker who is treating them ... is immunized and that they are at low risk for transmission."

Getting acute-care staff vaccinated is the next priority," said Moore, along with home care, independent health facilities and ambulance services. After that, he'll set his sights on education workers.

He also talked about reviewing medical exemptions to ensure they're legitimate, as Ontario has seen a higher rate than would be expected under its stringent criteria.

The province already announced mandatory COVID shots in long-term care, requiring staff to be vaccinated by Nov. 15 or have an exemption.

Hospital workers are required to only disclose their status. The unvaccinated get education and are tested regularly.

But Moore has called this requirement the bare minimum" with hospitals allowed to implement stricter measures.

The Ontario Hospital Association and the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario have called for mandatory vaccination of health-care workers.

Hamilton's medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, said she'd prefer it come from the province rather than a patchwork of policies.

HHS and St. Joseph's Healthcare implemented the bare-minimum policy Monday.

We are examining compliance data at this time and will be taking progressive disciplinary action for those who do not legitimately comply," St. Joseph's said in a statement.

Both hospital networks have refused to provide numbers on how many staff are unvaccinated, have completed education or are complying with testing.

Education and at-home test kits - supplied by the province - have been provided to individuals who are unvaccinated," HHS said in a statement Tuesday. Self-testing must be completed every Monday and Thursday. Audits to confirm compliance with education and testing are occurring."

HHS says 97 per cent of its staff have reported their vaccination status as of Oct. 5. But it hasn't said how many it employs overall.

We have begun one-on-one conversations with those who have not complied with reporting," said HHS. Individuals who do not comply are subject to progressive discipline including termination."

Of those who have reported their status, 92 per cent are fully vaccinated, which equals 11,750 staff and doctors.

We expect every staff member and physician to fulfil their responsibility to safeguard our patients and workforce from COVID-19 through vaccination," said HHS.

Neither HHS nor St. Joseph's answered questions about whether the COVID vaccine policy has already exacerbated significant staff shortages - the two networks have hundreds of unfilled jobs between them.

Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com