Sault Area Hospital fires 13 staff for refusing vaccine, including nurses

The Sault Area Hospital is opening its doors to visitors for the first time in months, but will still be keeping heavy restrictions in place. (Christian D'Avino/CTV News)

Sudbury -

Sault Area Hospital said this week 13 employees have been terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, including four Registered Nurses, four Registered Practical Nurses and five support services staff.

That's a drop from the 70 employees the hospital said on Nov. 4 still weren't fully vaccinated. Workers had until Nov. 22 to receive their first dose, and must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 20. SAH has 1,766 employees in total. The hospital said it can cope with the terminations.

"We also took this step with careful and thoughtful consideration of the potential impacts," SAH said in a news release.

"Given our efforts to mitigate the impact of mandatory vaccination from the potential of 70 employees to 13, we are in a position to manage this impact through our contingency plans and recruitment efforts."

Similar vaccine policies are in effect at other Ontario hospitals, including those in the north. SAH said all employees and volunteers are now vaccinated, or have a medical exemption.

"When it comes to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, each hospital is responsible for making decisions in the best interest of their patients and the communities they serve," the release said.

"Vaccination rates among our staff and medical professionals who work in our hospital have risen steadily since we introduced these policies several months ago. This action helps reduce transmission of COVID-19 and decreases the risk of disruption to hospital operations and other unexpected staff absences due to illness."