A New York hospital will no longer deliver babies after staffers resign over vaccine mandate – By Timothy Bella (The Washington Post) / Sept 12 2021
An Upstate New York hospital announced that it will stop delivering babies this month after several staffers in the maternity department resigned over the hospital system’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.
At least six unvaccinated maternity staffers at Lewis County General Hospital have resigned in recent days and seven others remain undecided on whether to get vaccinated, Gerald Cayer, chief executive officer of the Lewis County Health System, said at a Friday news conference. The staff shortage will result in the hospital being “unable to safely staff” the maternity department beginning Sept. 25, he said.
“The number of resignations received leaves us no choice but to pause delivering babies at Lewis County General Hospital,” Cayer said. “It is my hope that the [New York State] Department of Health will work with us in pausing the service rather than closing the maternity department.”
Cayer said 165 hospital staffers, about 27% of the workforce, remain unvaccinated. Seventy-three percent of those unvaccinated staffers provide clinical services at the hospital.
