“This is creating an unprecedented crisis for us,” said Tom Quatroche, the Erie County Medical Center Corporation’s president. “I think we need more time to comply, and I’ve asked for that. For all the right reasons, the vaccine mandate was put in place. But the reality is it is creating a public health crisis in hospitals, with nobody to care for patients.”
In New York City, more than 5,000 of the 42,000 employees of the public hospital system were unvaccinated as of Friday. They will be barred from hospitals starting Monday and from other care facilities beginning Oct. 7, and they will be placed on unpaid leave.
The hospital system anticipates the vaccine mandate could reduce the ranks of radiology technologists and phlebotomists, in particular, and some doctors have been urged to limit the amount of imaging and blood work they order next week, according to an internal message.
Firings under the new directive could prove particularly problematic for nursing homes, which are already facing staffing problems. The New York State Health Facilities Association, a trade group that represents about 250 nursing homes, has asked state officials to temporarily let unvaccinated nursing home workers keep working as long as they get tested regularly.
“While we are striving for 100 percent, we do not feel we will achieve that by Monday,” said Stephen Hanse, the association’s president.
The wider range of workers who must be vaccinated starting Oct. 7 includes those at diagnostic and treatment centers, adult care facilities, certified home health agencies and hospices.
Despite the potential staffing challenges, the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents about 140 health systems and 55 nursing homes, supports the deadline.
