As vaccine mandate takes effect, B.C. long-term care homes wrestle with staffing shortfalls

“The six that are refusing the vaccine will be on a leave of absence for 30 days giving them an opportunity to still change their minds, should they wish to get the vaccine,” Attfield continued.

But if they’re not vaccinated in 30 days, those workers will be cut loose from a sector that is already short-staffed.

“We recently had an outbreak and it got into the building from someone who was unvaccinated. I think we need to take every measure possible to ensure the protection of not only our residents but also our team members,” he said.

And that extra layer of protection is giving one Kamloops man, Les Lambert, a sigh of relief while his mother lives at The Hamlets.

“The government mandates it and it needs to be done. I myself am very appreciative of it. You know, the stance has to be made and sorry for the people that have to go,” said Lambert.

The Hamlets says the loss of six employees will be manageable, but many private sector care homes across the Interior have lost staff because of the vaccine mandate and the CEO of the BC Care Providers association, Terry Lake, says he’s worried.

“We need to rethink the single-site order policy for fully-vaccinated workers, so people can work at more than one location. That will help to alleviate some of the critical staffing shortages that we do see,” said Lake.

Employees with one dose are able to continue working if they undergo rapid testing before each shift. Lake says this helped the homes represented by the BC Care Providers avoid a worst case scenario.

Although losing any employees is a setback, Attfield says he fully supports the provincial mandate.

“You’re in healthcare. There’s certain expectations that should be met in order to stay working in healthcare,” said Attfield.

by Amandalina Letterio

As vaccine mandate takes effect, B.C. long-term care homes wrestle with staffing shortfalls

Our Community