NY hospital forced to pause deliveries due to resignations

A infirmary located conscionable northbound of Syracuse, New York, says it volition beryllium forced to "pause" maternity services due to the fact that respective unit members person resigned alternatively than comply with a authorities mandate that requires them to beryllium vaccinated against COVID-19.

Gerald R. Cayer, the Lewis County Health System CEO, said astatine a press league Friday that the institution volition beryllium "unable to safely staff" the maternity ward astatine Lewis County General Hospital successful Lowville opening Sept. 24.

In August, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered each wellness attraction workers successful the authorities to person astatine slightest 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Cayer said Friday that since Cuomo's announcement, 30 infirmary strategy employees person resigned.

Of those who person resigned, 21 of them worked successful objective areas, including six members of the maternity ward. In addition, 165 employees with the institution person not gotten their archetypal changeable and person not informed the institution of their plans moving forward.

"We person 2 weeks remaining for 165 unit to person the archetypal dose of the vaccine. And astatine the aforesaid time, we indispensable make contingency plans for services we judge are astatine risk," Cayer said. "We can't hold to the past minute. We person not been fixed overmuch time, and it is simply a hard deadline earlier us."

Overall, Cayer says the wellness system's vaccination complaint sits astatine 73%.

Cayer said that moving forward, the wellness strategy hopes to enlistee nurses who are vaccinated soon to beryllium capable to "reengage successful delivering babies present successful Lewis County."

"Our anticipation is arsenic we get closer, the numbers volition summation of individuals who are vaccinated, less individuals volition leave, and possibly with a small luck, immoderate of those who person resigned volition reconsider," Cayer said.

Lewis County Health System's struggles travel arsenic President Joe Biden hopes to institute wide vaccine mandates, including for wellness attraction workers. Biden says helium volition instrumentality enactment to necessitate vaccinations for workers successful astir wellness attraction settings that person Medicare oregon Medicaid reimbursement.

And portion Lewis County Health System is struggling to find workers to comply with the order, mandates look to beryllium moving for different companies. Delta Airlines reported past week that galore of its employees had gotten vaccinated aft the institution said those who did not get their shots would beryllium charged an further $200 a period successful wellness attraction costs.

In August, an AP-NORC poll conducted successful August recovered that 55% of Americans are successful favour of requiring authorities workers to beryllium afloat vaccinated, compared with 21% opposed.