NY hospitals fear staff shortage as vaccine deadline looms

NEW YORK (AP) — Hospitals and nursing homes in New York are bracing for the possibility that a statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers could lead to staff shortages when it takes effect Monday.

Doctors and nurses — and also support staff, like food service workers and cleaners — have been given until Sept. 27 to get at least their first vaccine shot in one of the nation's most aggressive plans to protect patients.

With just days left to go before the deadline, many still hadn't. That left the prospect of potentially thousands of health care workers being forced off the job next week.

With no sign of Gov. Kathy Hochul backing down, hospitals and nursing homes were preparing contingency plans that included cutting back on elective surgeries and, at one hospital, halting maternity services. Nursing homes were limiting admissions. The state’s largest health care provider, Northwell Health, was keeping thousands of volunteers on standby.

“We would like to see some more time to be able to comply and implement the vaccine mandate, because at the end of the day it’s a situation where we’re very concerned about our ability to care for the patients," said Tom Quatroche, CEO of the Erie County Medical Center Corporation, which operates a busy 573-bed hospital in Buffalo.

It anticipates that about 10% of its workforce, or 400 staff members, might still not be vaccinated by Monday. Under a contingency plan, the hospital said it would suspend elective inpatient surgeries, temporarily stop accepting ICU transfers from other institutions and reduce hours at outpatient clinics.

Hochul, a Democrat, held firm on the deadline Thursday, telling reporters at a news conference that there were “no excuses” for those refusing to abide by the mandate, announced this...