Hospital in upstate New York will STOP delivering babies after six workers in maternity unit resigned instead of getting COVID-19 vaccine
A hospital in upstate New York announced it will temporarily stop delivering babies after six employees in a maternity ward resigned instead of getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
Lewis County General Hospital in Lowville said on Friday that it will pause delivering babies after September 24.
According to WWNY, the hospital said it will work with the state's Department of Health to make certain the maternity ward doesn't close permanently.
'If we can pause the service and now focus on recruiting nurses who are vaccinated, we will be able to reengage in delivering babies here in Lewis County,' Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Officer Gerald Cayer said Friday a news conference.
'If we can pause the service and now focus on recruiting nurses who are vaccinated, we will be able to reengage in delivering babies here in Lewis County,' Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Officer Gerald Cayer said Friday a news conference
On Friday, Lewis County General Hospital in Lowville said it will pause delivering babies after September 24
By September 27, all healthcare workers in the state—including staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities—must receive their first COVID-19 vaccination, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in August.
Cayer said that 30 of the hospitals employees received the COVID-19 vaccination, but 30 others resigned. At least six of those were in the maternity unit. Another seven employees have not yet decided whether to get the shot, he said.
'We are not alone. There are thousands of positions that are open north of the Thruway and now we have a challenge to work through, you know, with the vaccination mandate,' he added.
President Joe Biden announced the federal government's aggressive new approach to fight the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, which include new vaccine rules that the White House says will affect two-third of the American workforce
President Joe Biden announced the federal government's aggressive new approach to fight the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, which included new vaccine rules that the White House says will affect two-third of the American workforce.
The strategy involves six steps all aimed at boosting the US vaccination rate, which fell over the summer as a new wave fueled by the Delta variant plunged health care systems in areas with largely unvaccinated populations back into disarray.
About 73.4 percent of Americans over the age of 12 have at least one vaccine dose, but less than 63 percent are fully vaccinated - far short of the threshold to reach herd immunity.
Biden's approach includes mandating all federal employees and federal contractors get vaccinated, requiring vaccinations for more than 17 million healthcare workers at Medicare and Medicaid-participating facilities and requiring all businesses with 100 or more employees to tell their workers to get vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing.
In Texas, employees at the Houston Methodist hospital walked out of their shifts to protest the health system's COVID-19 vaccine requirement in June.
Ashton Handley, a worker who resigned a few weeks before the protest, said she believes getting the vaccine is a choice.
'I'm not on either side, I'm not anti-vaxxer, I've received my vaccine, but I believe it should be someone's choice," she told Houston's FOX 26 at the time.
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