London hospital to fire 84 employees for refusing COVID-19 vaccination
Up to five doctors will have privileges suspended for failure to comply with vaccine policy
London Health Sciences Centre is set to fire 84 staff members and will move to suspend the privileges of up to five of its doctors for failing to comply with the hospital's COVID-19 vaccination policy, according to an email obtained by CBC News.
Details of the departures are outlined in an email sent to staff on Friday by LHSC CEO Jackie Schleifer Taylor.
"At this time and over the next few days we will be parting ways with 84 employees (43 in clinical and 41 in non-clinical roles) and in accordance with the existing by-law process suspending the privileges of no more than five physicians," Schleifer Taylor writes in the email.
She states that 98.2 per cent of LHSC staff and 99.8 per cent of its doctors are complying with the hospital's policy, which requires that all staff, contractors and volunteers be fully vaccinated by today.
While most staff got their shots, Schleifer Taylor's email says administrators are "expressing some disappointment" that they've fallen short of 100 per cent.
Schleifer Taylor says the impact of losing less than one per cent of their workforce "will be minimal." The email says LHSC has already moved to recruit staff to fill the vacancies.
LHSC will officially announce their employee vaccination numbers at a news conference planned for 2 p.m. Friday.
Almost 15,000 people work at the hospital, making it the region's largest employer.