27 Oswego Health Employees No Longer Employed Due To COVID-19 Vaccination Deadline As Statewide Staff Shortage Looms

by Matt Watling | October 2, 2021 7:00 am

OSWEGO – Despite the impending court decision regarding a religious exemption from the mandated COVID-19 vaccine, as of September 30, 27 employees who did not file for the exemption are “no longer employed” with Oswego Health, according to Jamie Leszczynski, the Senior Director of Communications.

The dismissal came as the September 27 vaccination deadline passed, a deadline set by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Currently there are no court decisions regarding a medical exemption, which is only granted if the person has an allergic medical reaction to certain ingredients in a specific COVID-19 vaccine, according to the New York State Department of Health.

“The Department of Health has even further advised healthcare entities not to grant a medical exemption across all COVID-19 vaccines due to allergic medical concerns, but rather to direct the employee to a vaccine without the allergic component or to recommend that the employee vaccinate in a strictly controlled environment,” Leszczynski said in an email.

She added that the Department of Health advised agencies to only grant a medical exemption if an employee has an allergy to every COVID-19 vaccine.

Currently, the religious exemption is still being debated in the court system and as of Thursday, there is a panel of three judges at the federal appeals court level set for a hearing on October 14. Despite the federal hearing, there is also a similar hold on the mandate for religious exemptions specifically by an Upstate New York judge, which will last until October 12.

It is by that October 12 date that Oswego Health will require “weekly testing” and require unvaccinated employees to “wear protective eyewear,” according to Michele Bouchard who works for the Oswego Hospital as an ultrasound technician. 

The religious exemption hold only protects those who filed for a religious exemption which is why 27 employees are no longer employed by Oswego Health. Due to  a “surge of COVID and non-COVID patients” as well as “a continued high daily census,” Oswego Health will put a pause on elective surgeries, according to Leszczynski.

The pause will last two-weeks and starts on Monday, October 4.

“The operating rooms will remain open for urgent and emergent cases,” Leszczynski said. “The decision was made to ensure staffing is adequate, as they carry out its mission to remain ready to care for the community.”

With the potential for staffing shortages, however, Oswego Health is working to resolve such an issue through a two-pronged approach, State of Emergency guidelines and redeploying existing staff. Governor Hochul has also considered several options to help the state’s shortage at-large through a state emergency declaration and even calling in health care workers from the National Guard.

“We are actively working with staffing agencies and the State of Emergency guidelines to bring in staff to help us get through the current crisis in our facility,” Leszczynski said. “Redeployment of existing staff is our only immediate option to care for our patients properly.”

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/27-oswego-health-employees-no-longer-employed-due-to-covid-19-vaccination-deadline-as-statewide-staff-shortage-looms/

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