Sudbury's hospital terminated 53 staffers for not getting COVID-19 vaccine
Health Sciences North said Wednesday that a total of 53 full- and part-time staff have been terminated for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The staff members were fired Nov. 29-30. They include 14 full-time employees, 32 part-time employees and seven casual workers, representing 1.4 per cent of all HSN employees.
In a news release, HSN said it revised its vaccination policy Nov. 1 to make it mandatory for all current employees, professional staff, learners and volunteers be vaccinated.
"At that time, HSN had 266 or seven per cent of its employees who had yet to provide evidence of first dose of COVID-19 vaccination," the release said.
"On Nov. 15, HSN had 76 or two per cent of its employees who were not compliant with the mandatory vaccination policy and who were put on unpaid leave."
Those terminated include 17 nurses, nine paramedical workers, 15 service staff, nine clerical staff and three non-union workers.
"HSN respects the decision of these unvaccinated employees who, for reasons that are personal to them, chose to leave the organization," the release said.
"The number of terminations was within the range HSN expected based on the experience of other Ontario hospitals that implemented mandatory COVID-19 vaccination."
For context, the hospital said in the last 12 months, HSN hired 788 new employees and 1,300 of its employees are eligible to retire in the next five years.
"One hundred per cent of credentialed professional staff, learners and active on-site volunteers at HSN are now vaccinated," HSN said.
And 99.7 per cent of active employees are vaccinated, with one employee with an approved medical exemption and 12 other exemptions pending approval.
"The staff with approved or pending exemptions are required to submit rapid antigen test results twice per week," the release said.
Employees who have only their first dose are required to provide evidence of their second dose of COVID-19 vaccination by January. The hospital said that follows the most recent guidance from the Ministry of Health, which now recommends an eight-week interval between first and second doses of vaccine.
Correction
The nine paramedical workers affected by the termination were not city paramedics.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.