New York City health officials said that upwards of 5,000 employees in the city's public hospital system were not vaccinated as a statewide vaccine mandate took effect on Monday for health care workers, leaving them unable to report to work and get paid.
Meanwhile, in another sign of tangible repercussions, representatives from the state’s largest private medical provider, Northwell Health, said it had fired about two dozen unvaccinated workers for missing the deadline and is looking into possibly terminating more people who may not have gotten the shot in time.
This past weekend, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had been bracing for tens of thousands of health care workers across the state to refuse vaccinations. Tallies from last week suggested that as many as 16% of hospital workers were not yet vaccinated. On Monday, Hochul announced that she had signed an executive order that would allow her to deploy medical staff from the National Guard and tap other replacements such as retired doctors and nurses.
"My desire is to have the people who've been out there continue to work in their jobs, working in them safely," she said Monday at a press conference in the Bronx. "To all the other health care workers who are vaccinated, they also deserve to know that the people they're working with will not get them sick."
But city officials downplayed the impact of the shortages at its public hospitals, saying that they should not affect patient care. The 5,000 tally represents about 12% of the total 43,000 workforce at the city's public health care network, which includes 11 hospitals and more than 70 community-based clinics.
"These are numbers we can sustain," insisted Mayor Bill de Blasio, during his daily press briefing. The city's health commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi added that he believed hospitals would be able to weather the staff shortages "without a major impact to patient care."
Dr. Mitchell Katz, the head of the city's public hospital network, said the 5,000 number was an estimate as of Sunday evening, but he held out hope that it could still shrink on Monday. "If someone comes in for their shift today, we will send them to the vaccination clinic, and if they get vaccinated, they can then go to work," Katz said.
He said he was not planning to put hospital staffers on leave, which could be a step toward termination, but would give them time to consider getting vaccinations. Regardless, they will not be allowed to work and will have to forgo pay. A spokesperson for the city's public hospital system did not immediately respond to a request for a breakdown of the unvaccinated employees by job and facility.
Northwell had previously said it was prepared to fire unvaccinated employees. Last week, hospital officials said they had identified a few hundred unvaccinated workers who were then contacted and reminded to get the shot. Of its more than 77,000 employees, about 10 percent had not yet been fully vaccinated last week.
“But we are taking even stronger measures to ensure the safety of our staff and, more importantly, the well-being of our patients and the communities we serve,” Northwell Health spokesperson Andrea Mineo wrote in a statement. “As a health system, we are committed to vaccinating our entire workforce beyond the scope of the state’s mandate to include both our clinical and non-clinical staff.”
According to Mark Levine, chair of the New York City Council's health committee, most of the unvaccinated hospital workers at city hospitals were nonclinical staff members. He said hospitals had prepared in advance for Monday's mandate by hiring additional staff to fill in temporarily.
"Today the system is operating pretty well," Levine said, adding that "It may become more challenging over the long term."
A similar mandate due to be implemented Monday for New York City Department of Education employees was postponed after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction late Friday.
Gwynne Hogan contributed reporting. An earlier version of this story stated that Northwell Health fired a dozen employees after the mandate kicked in. It was closer to two dozen.
