UHN considers leave of absence and terminations for unvaccinated staff

Tamara Dus, director of University Health Network Safety Services, administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Michener Institute in Toronto on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO -

Unvaccinated employees at the University Health Network could be forced to take a leave of absence during the fourth wave of COVID-19, as the health system considers new measures to convince vaccine-resistant workers to take the shot.

The change in strategy comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford authorized a new health directive impacting thousands of employees in health care and education, requiring proof of vaccination, a medical reason for remaining unvaccinated, or mandatory COVID-19 testing to weed out the virus.

Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore indicated the new rules – set to take effect on Sept. 7 – were a baseline and gave hospitals and other pubic sector employers the power the go further in order to drive up vaccine uptake.

Kevin Smith, the health network's CEO, says roughly 950 employees – eight per cent of the workforce –remains unvaccinated and could be offered a stark choice in the coming weeks.

"We have to insist that people actually participate in a vaccine program, or think about taking a leave of absence," Smith told CTV News Toronto.

UHN was among the first employers in Ontario to require unvaccinated individuals to submit to regular COVID-19 testing before arriving for work, a policy that quickly boosted vaccination rates since it took effect in early august.

Smith said the vaccine uptake rose from 85 per cent in late July to the current rate of 92 per cent of employees vaccinated against COVID-19. The remaining 950 employees entered into a "swabbing program" with regular testing up to 48 hours before their shift.

While Smith said the first phase of the jab or swab program has been a "remarkable success" they encountered a small group of unvaccinated employees who refused to be regularly tested – leading to tough talk from hospital officials.

"There was a very small number of people who said I don't want to test. And we said that that's really not an option," Smith said.

The hospital went further and gave employees who resisted the hospital's rules a cooling off period from work.

"We had very frank dialogues with [them] and said ... here's a couple of weeks off for you to consider whether that's really your position that you don't wish to comply with the hospital's policies. Happy to say we now have 100 per cent compliance," Smith said.

The success of that hard lined approach, combined with new provincial guidelines, convinced UHN to take a second look at their minimum standards for employment, including asking unvaccinated employees to work from home or take a leave of absence.

While Smith said UHN would "love to avoid termination wherever possible" it could be a last resort option if all other efforts fail the convince employees of the benefits of the vaccine.

"The needs of the patient comes first. That at times will require us to make very difficult decisions by always in the best interests of patients," Smith said.

"These need to be the safest possible environments for patients families and our at risk staff."