A hospital in upstate New York will temporarily stop delivering babies in light of several maternity staff members resigning over a COVID-19 mandate.
via: New York Post
Lewis County General Hospital in Lowville, NY, will temporarily stop delivering babies, after maternity-ward employees quit rather than be forced to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to reports.
Six employees in the unit resigned over the vaccine mandate, and another seven are undecided about getting the shot, the county health system’s CEO, Gerald Cayer, said Friday, according to WWNY.
“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,” he said, according to the station.
Cayer said 27 percent of the hospital’s workers — 165 employees — haven’t gotten the shot.
The state has ordered all health-care workers in New York to get their first shot by Sept. 27 or face termination. After the August announcement by former governor Andrew Cuomo, 30 hospital workers resigned, Cayer said.
According to the Watertown Daily Times, the hospital fears that seven other unvaccinated people in maternity may also decide to leave.
