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LOWVILLE, NY – A hospital in upstate New York has said it will put off delivering babies in two weeks amid a string of maternity workers’ resignations who oppose vaccination mandates against COVID-19.
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Lewis County General Hospital in Lowville will temporarily stop giving birth after September 24, WWNY reported. At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Lewis County Health System CEO Gerald Cayer said seven of the 30 hospital workers who quit were from the hospital maternity ward. He added that seven other maternity staff were unwilling to get the vaccine, the TV station reported.
Workers were opposing a September 27 deadline to receive a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Watertown Daily Times reported. Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the state warrant on August 23.
Twenty of the staff who resigned held clinical positions like nurses, therapists and technicians, the newspaper reported.
“If we can suspend the service and now focus on recruiting vaccinated nurses, we can re-engage in childbirth here in Lewis County,” Cayer told reporters.
Cayer said 165 hospital workers, or 27% of the facility’s workforce, had yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19, WWNY reported. There were 464 workers who received the vaccine, Cayer said.
“Our hope is that as we get closer (to the deadline) the number of individuals vaccinated will increase, fewer individuals will leave and perhaps, with any luck, some of those who have resigned will reconsider. their decision, “Cayer told reporters. “We are not alone. There are thousands of positions that are open north of the Thruway and now we have a challenge, you know, with the vaccination mandate.”
Cayer stressed that the hospital would not “shut down services,” the Daily Times reported.
“It’s just a crazy time,” Cayer told the newspaper. “It’s not just centered on the LCHS. Rural hospitals everywhere are really trying to figure out how we’re going to make it work.
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