New York hospitals fire staff who refuse vaccine

NEW YORK • New York hospitals began firing or suspending healthcare workers on Monday for defying a state order to get the Covid-19 vaccine, and the resulting staff shortages led some hospitals to postpone elective operations or curtail services.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference that hospitals in the city were not yet seeing a major impact from the mandate. But he added that he was worried about other areas of the state where vaccination rates are lower.

A spokesman for Catholic Health, one of the largest healthcare providers in Western New York, said it had reached full compliance, counting staff members who had been vaccinated, those with exemptions and some who had been suspended without pay.

The spokesman, Ms JoAnne Cavanaugh, refused to say how many workers had been suspended or granted exemptions due to medical or religious reasons. Catholic Health said it was forced to postpone "a small number" of elective procedures.

Erie County Medical Centre in Buffalo said it has suspended elective inpatient operations and stopped accepting intensive-care patients from other hospitals as it prepares to fire hundreds of unvaccinated employees. Spokesman Peter Cutler said the decision to curtail some operations would inconvenience patients and hurt hospital finances. Elective inpatient operations bring in about US$1 million (S$1.36 million) a week, he said.

"We had to make a decision as to where we could temporarily make some changes so that we could ensure other areas of services are as little affected as possible," Mr Cutler said. "Financially, it's a big deal."

The inoculation push comes as US President Joe Biden and other state and federal political leaders ratchet up the pressure on unvaccinated Americans, some of whom object to mandates on religious or health grounds.

New York's state health department issued an order last month mandating that all healthcare workers receive at least their first Covid-19 shot by Sept 27, triggering a rush by hospitals to get their employees inoculated.

Of the 43,000 employees at New York City's 11 public hospitals, about 5,000 were not vaccinated, Dr Mitchell Katz, head of NYC Health + Hospitals, said during the news conference with Mr de Blasio.

Dr Katz said 95 per cent of nurses were vaccinated and all the group's facilities were "open and fully functional" on Monday.

Last Saturday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was considering employing the National Guard and out-of-state medical workers to fill staffing shortages, with 16 per cent of the state's 450,000 hospital workers not fully vaccinated.

Healthcare workers fired for refusing to get vaccinated will not be eligible for unemployment insurance unless they are able to provide a valid doctor-approved request for medical accommodation, Ms Hochul's office said.

A federal judge in Albany has temporarily ordered New York state officials to allow religious exemptions for the vaccine mandate on healthcare workers.

Separately, a federal appeals court on Monday ruled that New York City can order all teachers and staff to get the vaccine, reversing a previous decision that had put the mandate on hold for educators.

REUTERS