Hamilton Health Sciences fires 138 employees as COVID-19 vaccine deadline passes
Published January 28, 2022 at 8:11 am
Hamilton Health Science (HHS) disclosed on Thursday (Jan. 27) that an additional 138 employees have been terminated for not complying with the health-care provider’s vaccination policy.
In total, 178 HHS employees have had their employment terminated for choosing not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
In September, HHS implemented its vaccination management policy which requires all staff and physicians to disclose their vaccination status. At that point, employees were given until Nov. 30 to disclose their status.
Those who did not disclose their status by the deadline were issued termination notices on Nov. 30 that would come into effect on Jan. 26 unless they became fully vaccinated before that time.
“Unfortunately, 138 individuals have been terminated as a result of their choice to leave their employment with HHS rather than comply with the organization’s COVID-19 Vaccination Management Policy,” a statement from HHS said.
“Each of these individuals has been provided ample time to comply with the policy and have decided against doing so.”
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To date, 98 per cent of HHS staff have reported being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Fewer than five individuals have obtained a valid medical exemption, according to the HHS COVID-19 dashboard on its website.
Of those whose termination came into effect on Thursday, HHS said more than 60 per cent were part-time or casual.
“The impact of their departure has been planned for in order to minimize any disruption to hospital services,” HHS said.
“We are grateful to the majority (upwards of 98%) of HHS staff and physicians who chose to get fully vaccinated in order to further protect our patients and their colleagues.”
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