by: kathleen saylors
about 97 per cent cent of windsor regional hospital staff had at least one shot of covid-19 vaccine as a hospital-wide mandate came into effect wednesday.
but for the almost 150 staff that haven’t yet to get the shot, wednesday marks the start of two weeks of unpaid leave. from there, staff can be fired if they still won’t get the vaccine shot.
“this is the right thing to do and why 97 per cent of our staff and employees have embraced this and agree this is what we need to do,”
said david musyj, windsor regional hospital ceo, wednesday.
the hospital’s vaccine policy, adopted in early september, states that all hospital staff, employees, volunteers and students must have received at least one shot of covid-19 vaccine, unless they have a valid medical exemption, by sept. 22.
if not, individuals will be placed on unpaid leave for two weeks. if they haven’t received a vaccine by oct. 7, they can be fired or have their hospital privileges revoked.
right now, about 99 per cent of the hospital’s professional staff — including doctors, midwives and dentists — have received the vaccine. that leaves just seven individuals, only two of whom work full time, that have’t yet received it.