Lewis County Health System to "pause" maternity services due to staff numbers unwilling to vaccinate
Sep. 10—LOWVILLE — On Sept. 25, the maternity department at the Lewis County Health System will be temporarily closed until staffing challenges pushed over the edge by the number of workers unwilling to be vaccinated for COVID-19 can be solved.
According to system Chief Executive Officer Gerald R. Cayer who spoke at a news conference on Friday afternoon at the county board room, seven of the 30 people who have resigned worked in the maternity department and there are seven more that have not made clear whether or not they will get their first vaccine shot by the Sept. 27 deadline in two weeks.
Twenty of the staff members who have resigned worked in clinical positions like nurses, therapists and technicians. The clinical staff has, so far, made up 70% of those choosing to leave their employment rather than vaccinate.
Since Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the state mandate on Aug. 23, 30 healthcare workers have had at least one vaccination to prevent a severe case of COVID-19 and lower the transmissability of the disease and its highly contagious delta variant.
The health system, which had one of the lowest vaccination rates two months ago, now is "above average," Mr. Cayer said, with 464 members of the staff, 73%, vaccinated.
There are still 165 of the approximately 650 employees, who have not yet declared their decision with hospital management.
In addition to the maternity ward, there are five other departments whose services may be curtailed in some way if a significant number of staff members decide to leave their employment.
The health system is bracing for other potential resignations or firings yet to come for those who refuse to be vaccinated
Mr. Cayer said that the delta variant has cause the numbers of infected people to surge throughout the country and across the north country including Lewis County. New hospitalizations are also reemerging as a concern for over-taxed health systems halfway through the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic
"It just is a crazy time," Mr. Cayer said in an interview, "It's not just LCHS-centric. Rural hospitals everywhere are really trying to figure out how we're going to make it work."
Mr. Cayer is expected to announce what services provided at the hospital and clinics will be impacted by the situation resulting from the enforcement of the requirement for all hospital and nursing home employees to have at least the first vaccination shot by Sept. 27.
The Health System will not be "shutting down services," Mr. Cayer said, preferring to say the targeted services will have to be "paused."
In the wake of the announcement on Aug. 23 and the push-back from employees, health system leadership has been working to communicate with staff members and develop contingency plans to mitigate the impact of healthcare providers refusing to be vaccinated.
"If you don't have staff, how do you deliver the service? That's what I'm going to be talking about," Mr. Cayer said.
The Health System is one of only two county-owned hospitals left in the state and is the largest employer in the county.
