New protocols for school sports and clubs

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October 7, 2021

By Lisa Gervais and Kirk Winter

When the Red Hawks girls’ field hockey team took to the pitch at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School Oct. 5 it was a rare inter-school match for this fall in Haliburton.

The girls will host another game Oct. 12 but that’s about it for school matchups, other than cross-country runners who are also entering competitions this year.

There’ll be no boys junior or senior football and girls’ rugby has also been sidelined for the autumn.

Principal Chris Boulay said the school’s athletics department is, however, easing back into fall extracurricular opportunities by offering a number of sport and fitness programs to engage students in physical activity and to help promote wellness.

“In addition to girls’ field hockey, the Red Hawk Running Club (x-country running team), the Hawk’s Nest fitness centre, and boys volleyball are underway,” Boulay said.

He added, “currently, volleyball is happening as an after-school skills development/activity, along with the fitness centre in the Hawk’s Nest.”

The Trillium Lakelands District School Board discussed sports during its Sept. 28 meeting and specifically how it plans to deal with transportation with a critical shortage of buses and what the protocol will be for spectators.

“Extracurriculars are back,” director of education Wes Hahn said. “We are glad they are back but they are voluntary. Not all coaches and teams are going to be running. We will respect if staff feel uneasy or anxious about running teams again.”

Participants will have to be driven by parents to competitions because “buses simply are not available because the driver shortage remains a serious issue,” Hahn said.

Before someone will be allowed to drive they will have to have a criminal reference check; a license search; and a check for liability insurance. Drivers will not be considered if they have not been double vaccinated at least 14 days before the event. If they are driving children besides their own, everyone in the vehicle will need to be masked. Drivers will be allowed to watch the event.

All coaches and referees will need to be double vaccinated.

Haliburton area trustee Gary Brohman asked if volunteer drivers would be reimbursed for gas. Superintendent Kim Williams said each school would make that decision based on their budgetary realities.

Brohman said parents are saving the board the cost of a bus, and “strongly encouraged schools to pay.”

As for spectators, Williams said “only players, coaches and officials will be in attendance.”

Williams said student participation is the priority for extra-curriculars this fall, and coaches should be devoting their attention to the competition and student safety without worrying about whether parents, friends and siblings in the stands are masked, properly distanced and behaving appropriately.

Hahn is also hopeful that some kind of inter-school sporting activities will be made available for Grade 7 and 8 students, possibly focused around soccer. Superintendant Jay MacJanet is working on that activity, in addition to encouraging intramural competitions within each school.

School board director urges COVID-19 vigilance

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Lisa Gervais

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October 7, 2021

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The local school board’s director of education says he’s looking forward to a time when COVID updates are unnecessary at school board meetings.

Wes Hahn told the latest meeting, on Sept. 28, that there were currently almost 40 cases of COVID in the communities that send their children to Trillium Lakelands District School Board schools, including one new community case with five high risk contacts as of Oct. 5 in Haliburton.

“There have been no real spikes or real rises since school began and that is good,” Hahn said. He added there are currently no active cases within the TLDSB but there have been five since schools opened.

Hahn said the board continues to strongly encourage students over the age of 12 and members of their extended families to get vaccinated. As of the Sept. 28 board meeting, he said 30-35 per cent of that student cohort is still unvaccinated.

“If we have a case in the high schools,” Hahn said, “students who are double vaccinated can return to school immediately. Unvaccinated students cannot return unless you are cleared by public health, typically after 10 days of isolation. That is a lot of school missed.

“It is paramount for the protection of students that we have as many vaccinated as can be,” Hahn said. “Vaccinations allow extra-curriculars to operate. Vaccinations allow more interactions between students to occur safely and vaccinations allow students to stay in school.”

Haliburton area trustee Gary Brohman wanted to know when lockers are going to become available for students.

“They aren’t,” Hahn said. “We are concerned about unvaccinated kids congregating at lockers where a lot of contact will occur. This is to be avoided. So, for now we are saying no to lockers.”

Hahn added that 86 per cent of board staff were fully vaccinated, with 14 per cent medically exempt or performing the vaccine education program which includes testing twice a week for COVID.

Trustee Colleen Wilcox asked for an update of the health unit vaccination drives that had used board sites to host their events in September. Wilcox was told that four mass vaccination clinics had been held with “only 20-50” getting vaccinated at each school.

The Ministry of Health said that between Sept. 13 and Oct. 5, 12 to 17-year-olds were responsible for 13.11 per cent of all cases in Ontario. In the HKPR district health unit, that age group had 31.26 per cent still not vaccinated as of Oct. 5

Pandemic sparked property care business

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Sam Gillett

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October 7, 2021

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Clare and Jordan Kadlosvki had wanted to work for themselves for a while. It was the pandemic and accompanying shutdowns that gave the couple the extra incentive to start up KADS Home and Cottage Services, a full-service home care company, last fall.

“We thought, well there’s uncertainty in every job, we might as well give it a go,” Jordan said.

It also gave them a chance to dream about how they could use their skills to create something new.

“For a while it was back of mind. We wanted to do our own thing and create our own schedule,” added Clare.

Now they’re on the road every day, offering everything from lawn care to cottage checks to stocking up kitchens with a weekend’s worth of groceries.

“We try to incorporate as many things as possible. We offer to a broad range of clients,” Clare said.

And they’re doing it as a family. Their two young sons, Carter and Harper, often come along to jobs, especially since COVID-19 meant schools were closed.

“We’ve also been trying to juggle and manage that as well,” explained Jordan.

The Kadlovskis said demand for their services has sometimes been “overwhelming.”

“Now to think we have a steady clientele base already, it’s unbelievable,” Clare said.

They said much of that could be because of the increase in tourism and interest in real estate in the County. Construction activity in the area is reaching all-time highs: in each municipality build values are nearly, if not more than, double amounts seen in 2020. That’s mirrored in a steady uptick in tourism and many people finding short-term escapes from urban centres in the Highlands.

Their services cater to those markets: whether preparing cottages for short-term rentals, or maintaining and keeping a careful eye on properties while their owners might be elsewhere. The majority of their clients, Jordan said, reside outside the County.

With a brisk start to business right out of the gate, Jordan said KADS’ top challenge has been the logistics of running a mobile business. He and Clare, as well as another full-time employee and a couple of parttime workers, spend each day driving from place to place performing different jobs for property owners. That means balancing long-term jobs such as seasonal deep cleaning and short order tasks such as emergency checks and small repairs.

“It’s just trying to manage that time and access the properties at different times,” he said.

Jordan said they’re proud to be a sort of “one-stop shop” for homeowners. “People really like the idea of going to one person, one company and getting a high quality of service.”

Council indecisive on new name for Sam Slick Park

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Mike Baker

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October 7, 2021

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Dysart et al council is seeking further information from a citizen-led subcommittee that recently recommended the municipality consider renaming Sam Slick Park.

First unveiled in the early 1960s, the park is named after the character Sam Slick, who is featured in several stories written by Thomas Chandler Haliburton – a judge, politician and author for whom Haliburton village and the County of Haliburton is named. Earlier this year, concerns were brought to council that some of these stories, and specifically storylines surrounding Slick, are misogynistic and racist.

The committee recommended the park be incorporated as part of Head Lake Park, possibly with the designation of Head Lake Park West to avoid any potential confusion, given there is already a Head Lake Park in that area.

In explaining its decision, the subcommittee stated other municipalities across the country were taking measures to rename places and events inspired by individuals with a controversial past. The community of West Hants Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, for example, recently renamed its annual Sam Slick Days event to Windsor-West Hants Summer Fest after being made aware of the contents of Haliburton’s stories.

Some members of council, notably Walt McKechnie and John Smith, were uncomfortable with the idea of renaming the park.

“I know a lot of things have changed in our world, but tearing things down and changing names … I just worry what’s next [that’s] going to change,” McKechnie said. “This perfect world … we’re all not perfect. Needless to say the character Sam Slick wasn’t. This perfect world that people want Walt McKechnie to live in, that doesn’t exist in Walt McKechnie’s life. I don’t know what we’re trying to accomplish by this.”

He added, “I think, in some way, the name Sam Slick should still be part of the park.”

Smith agreed with McKechnie, echoing the sentiment that, by changing the name of Sam Slick Park, council may be opening themselves to more trouble down the road.

“I don’t want someone next coming forward with a proposal to change the name of the Village of Haliburton, of the County of Haliburton because of what Thomas Chandler Haliburton wrote 200 years ago,” Smith said. “This is a slippery slope.”

McKechnie felt it was important that Dysart embrace its history and “learn from the mistakes that were made, rather than eliminate them.”

Mayor Andrea Roberts noted that, should council decide to keep the name Sam Slick Park, a plaque could be erected explaining the origins behind the name and acknowledging that the views outlined in the book are “totally different” to how people feel towards different cultures today.

Council asked staff to touch base with members of the sub-committee to see if they could send a representative to a future meeting to further discuss the issue.

Deputy mayor returns

Roberts kicked off last week’s meeting with an announcement that Pat Kennedy would be returning to his role as deputy mayor effective Oct. 1.

Kennedy took a leave of absence from council earlier this year to deal with some health issues.

“We’re all very excited and pleased that deputy mayor Kennedy will be returning back to his duties, both here at Dysart and at the County,” Roberts said. new 5,000 sq. ft. dining hall, commercial kitchen and dishwashing room. The project is expected to begin next spring.

Hockey and beer on tap for new Minden arena

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Lisa Gervais

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October 7, 2021

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Haliburton County Huskies’ fans will be able to enjoy an adult beverage while watching games this season.

Minden Hills Council approved expanding the available licensing area of the S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena and Community Centre beyond the existing Minden, Anson and Hindon rooms at its Oct. 4 meeting.

It means the township will apply to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to also include the gym; off-season rink; viewing and lobby areas; ice rink seating and the warm viewing area.

To accommodate the Huskies’ desire to sell alcohol, the township had to declare that each of the team’s home regular season games are events of municipal significance.

In a report to council, director of community services, Craig Belfry said, “The municipality has agreed to the use of the upper warm viewing area and community hall by the Haliburton Huskies for alcohol sales. In addition, the Huskies have requested that the sale of alcohol be permitted in the ice rink seating area.”

Belfry said the request should be granted since the Huskies “are an important tenant, and that their games will have an economic impact on the municipality as a whole.”

However, he said staff also believe that an area should be reserved as a ‘family zone’ for patrons who don’t want to sit where alcohol is permitted. Initially, it was suggested that 54 seats at the north east end could be sectioned off, clearly marked and under game day supervision of the Huskies.

Mayor Brent Devolin said he attended the Oct. 2 Huskies’ home opener and team ownership and the township are on the same page, “to see how it goes, whether it’s problematic or not and malleable on a go forward basis if things need to be added.”

Coun. Bob Carter spoke in favour of expanding throughout the facility but not into the stands. “We should be limiting the sale of alcohol in the stands particularly in the first year ‘til we see how it’s going.” He said drinking should be limited to the warm viewing and bar area. He added that designating 54 seats as a family zone represents just 12 percent of the facility and “doesn’t seem to be a very family-friendly approach.”

But Coun. Jean Neville replied, “Why we’re throwing more obstacles in the way of this opportunity to have a junior A hockey team here, I don’t understand. Why are we going to worry about things that might not happen? They are open to modifying this if there are issues.”

She added Carter is inferring that parents and adults will not be responsible. However, she said “nobody’s going to sit there and get hammered.” She said people would have designated drivers and not cause altercations.

Coun. Pam Sayne said the township had done a lot for the team, a private company, and she is concerned about a perceived bias. She’s also worried about competing with drinking establishments in town. However, Devolin said other bars and restaurants are “ecstatic” to have the team in town. Deputy Mayor Lisa Schell said people who don’t watch hockey won’t be coming to drink.

Devolin asked if Carter would accept 100 seats as a compromise and he said, “certainly 100 is better than 50.” Council eventually passed a resolution at that number.

“We’ll see how it goes. If we’re back here in a couple of months, with bad news, then we can make the next adjustment or if by the end of the whole season things are all positive then prior to another season we revisit it,” Devolin said.

The Huskies will be providing Smart Serve and security, according to Belfry.

Long-term care crisis ‘isn’t going away’

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Mike Baker

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October 7, 2021

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More than 18 months on from the formation of the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes Long-Term Care Coalition, and the release of a report compiled by the Canadian military that described conditions within certain facilities in Ontario as “horrifying,” many local activists advocating for change in the industry have been left disappointed by what they perceive as a lack of action from the provincial government.

A protest held outside of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott’s office in downtown Lindsay Oct. 4 drew more than a dozen people. Armed with signs, and launching sporadic chants of “our seniors deserve better,” those in attendance made it clear that they feel the Ontario government is failing residents currently living in long-term care.

Bonnie Roe and Lynn Ritchie, members of the local LTC coalition, made the trip to Lindsay to participate in the hour-long event.

“We feel it’s important to meet and collectively do this … it’s been over a year now since the military was called in to long-term care homes to assist, and, as we now know, they found appalling conditions in the places they visited. We’re here today … because nothing has really changed,” Ritchie said.

As outlined in that report, military officials experienced cockroach and bug infestations, seniors calling out repeatedly for help before receiving assistance, rotting food left unattended, COVID-19 infected patients being put in the same room as those who were healthy, missed meals, and seniors being left in soiled diapers and linens.

It also highlighted serious concerns over staff shortages, a lack of personal protective equipment, and failures to follow basic procedures to keep both residents and staff safe.

“Long-term care hasn’t been great for a number of years, but I think COVID shed a real light on what was really happening,” Ritchie said. “It made me personally realize that real change is needed.”

As a collective, the local LTC coalition has identified six core priorities it would like the Ontario government to address to improve conditions within the sector. High on that list is advocating for the inclusion of long-term care into the Canada Health Act, something Roe believes will completely change the way the sector operates.

The group also wants all LTC residents to receive at least four hours of direct care per day; reinstate annual resident quality inspections, with consistency in enforcement when inspections yield rule violations; explore new models of care; change the culture of long-term care to be more attentive to the value of elders; and stop for-profit companies from opening new nursing homes in Ontario.

Through previous correspondence with media, Scott has indicated she believes the Ontario government is doing a good job of reinvesting into long-term care. She stated that, in the 2021 budget, the government invested more than $2.5 billion to create more than 20,000 new beds provincewide, and upgraded almost 16,000 beds to a “modern, 21st century standard.” Scott said the province has also committed to investing $4.9 billion over four years to increase the average of daily direct care from 2.75 hours to four hours.

“I think if these things were implemented sooner rather than later, that would be a big help,” Ritchie said. “I don’t see a lot of this taking place at this point in time. We need action, not words.”

Shoreline bylaw ‘prohibition by way of regulation’

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Sam Gillett

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October 7, 2021

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Through their Zoom screens, County residents gave feedback on varying setbacks, a streamlined application process, and raised questions about the consultation process itself during the second draft shoreline bylaw town hall.

Hosted by J.L Richards (JLR) and Hutchinson Environmental (HES), the discussion focused on proposed changes to the bylaw rather than the restrictions of the previous draft bylaw itself.

Many of the 12 who spoke publicly, however, referred to the previous draft, which Jason Ferrigan said “represents a point in the conversation, but we are moving beyond that point in the conversation.”

Specifically, JLR and HES were tasked with reviewing and then presenting a new draft bylaw, taking into consideration the opinions of stakeholders and the public while pursuing peer-reviewed scientific research and comparative studies of other municipalities.

Conner Harris, representing Black Rock Landscaping, said the previously proposed bylaw would seriously hamper business. Its permit process, which JLR suggests streamlining to make it less onerous and expensive, would mean potential clients would be far more hesitant to proceed with building projects.

Harris said the cost of undertaking the permit process would be “disproportionate to the value of the project being pursued and in Black Rock’s view essentially amounts to prohibition by way of regulation.”

Despite those concerns, Harris said the company is encouraged by the direction they see the draft bylaw going.

“So far that process has given Black Rock cause for optimism that these concerns are being considered and will be fully incorporated into the final product when it’s considered by council.”

JLR has proposed multiple policy improvements which they suggest could improve the draft bylaw.

These include: creating a plain language bylaw; aligning the purpose of the bylaw with in-effect policies; creating a consistent area of application, harmonizing the bylaw with local requirements; recognizing variable site conditions; using performance-based standards; streamlining application requirements; broadening the matters that can be referred to council and creating a framework for transitioning to the new rules.

Disappointment with consultation process

Tayce Wakefield, a representative from a group of 150 properties on Kennisis Lake and other Haliburton lakes, said she “regrets [their] input was not sought” by consultants. Wakefield, who also addressed planners at the County’s July open house, spoke for approximately 17 minutes, outlining multiple key elements of the previous draft bylaw and raised questions which she said “remain to be answered.”

Wakefield’s group initially proposed to present a PowerPoint during the meeting. “It helps to make a clearer and more focused presentation,” she said. Their request was denied.

“It does cause us to question how interested you are” in receiving thoughtful input from property owners,” she told planners and council members. The slideshow presentation outlines multiple issues the group sees in the consultants’ report, including how the previous draft did not include renaturalization incentives.

At the beginning of the meeting, Warden Liz Danielsen said the issue of PowerPoint presentations is a “matter of equitable treatment of all presenters.”

“Those individuals making delegations at our initial meeting didn’t have that opportunity and we want to make sure we offer fair and equitable treatment for all those who have comments they wish to make,” she said.

Wakefield and subsequent speaker Thomas Moch said they support healthy lakes but were concerned by how the previous bylaw “further restricts [the] enjoyment of [their] properties.”

“No one intentionally goes out to destroy their habitat or destroy their lake in a negative context,” Moch said.

Terry Moore, of Environment Haliburton! also had suggestions for a reconfigured consultation process; one which would work towards a common understanding of facts and science apart from the “vitriolic” discourse on social media sites like Facebook.

“We need to organize, I think, public discussion forums where we can talk about where we’re coming from and why.”

Council is set to receive a new draft bylaw Oct. 27.

Cobra, the COVID-sniffing dog

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Sam Gillett

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October 7, 2021

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“Sniffer dogs” are used for detection of human remains, lost persons, trafficked drugs, explosives, weapons and other illegal contraband.

Many dogs have been trained to detect diseases including Parkinson’s, various cancers, seizures, infections, low blood sugars in insulin-dependent diabetic patients. A dog’s olfactory cortex is reportedly 40 times larger than a human’s, making it capable of storing and recalling vast numbers of scents for many years.

With over 200 million scent receptors in comparison to a human’s five million, a dog’s nose can detect the odour of particular molecules and compounds that alter during disease. These odours are believed to come from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) produced by biochemical changes in the body caused by malignancies, inflammations, infections, and other pathological events, including viral infections such as COVID.

The metabolic changes are detected in breath, sweat, urine and skin. Critical to our efforts to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 is having an efficient way to identify positive cases and tracing their contacts for purposes of isolation. Nasal swabs and CT scans may be accurate in diagnosing someone with COVID, but they are relatively expensive, require medical equipment, trained staff, time to implement and obtain results. It is suggested that the use of trained dogs leads to earlier detection of infected persons at a lower cost.

Especially useful in situations when large numbers of people need to be screened quickly, a Sniffer Dog trained to detect COVID-19 helps identify asymptomatic carriers quickly. Each well-trained dog has a screening capacity of 250 samples per hour. While there are dozens of COVID-sniffing dogs in Dubai and Miami airports now, Cobra, a Belgian Malinois, is a super sniffer, able to sniff out COVID with 99 per cent accuracy.

She and her partner, One Betta, a Dutch Shepherd, work a checkpoint together at Miami International airport. They are part of a pilot program with the Global Forensic and Justice Center at Florida International University that uses detection dogs as a quick screen to identify people with COVID-19. Their detection rate is high – at more than 98 per cent – and the program has been such a success that it’s being extended for another month at the airport.

The dogs have been so accurate in their detection of COVID-19 that they and other canines with similar training could be deployed to other places that have many people coming and going at once, including other airports or even schools. COVIDsniffing dogs are being used in university classrooms now. Cobra is given passengers’ masks to sniff as the travelers make their way through a security check.

If she identifies a specific scent, she’ll let her handler know by sitting down. Sitting means Cobra has detected an olfactory signal of the coronavirus. That means the passenger will get a swab. Cobra and One Betta got their start learning to identify the presence of laurel wilt, a fungus that attacks avocado trees and kills them, costing Florida growers millions of dollars.

Once a dog learns to identify one odour, it is easily trained to identify other scents assigned to them. Cobra and One Betta were trained using mask samples from people hospitalized with COVID, and a control group of people who did not have the disease. When the dog correctly identified the virus, it got a favorite toy. From Aug. 23 to Sept. 8, the two canines screened 1,093 people during eight working days, alerting on only one case.

That person had tested positive for COVID two weeks earlier and was returning to work after quarantine. While the follow-up rapid test was negative, it highlights the exquisite sensitivity of the sniffers.

We, Highlanders

By

Simon Payn

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October 7, 2021

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JQ - Centre lake consultation - 1 — Highlands East will head a public consultation for the province’s disposal of Crown land on Centre lake. Photo via Granite Shores.

A couple of weeks back, as I was filling the newspaper box outside Jug City, the thought crossed my mind: what are you doing here, thousands of kilometres from home, a newspaper delivery boy in a land of lakes, forests, snow and hockey?

In one of the best places on Earth. This is the first and likely the last column I’ll write for this newspaper. Despite having my name on this page as publisher, I don’t get to decide what you read each week. That’s the job of our editor and her team.

That’s how it should be.

I get all the responsibility (I sign the cheques) and not much of the power so we can protect our product; so you know what you read here is not influenced by commercial concerns.

What Lisa, Sam and Mike put in The Highlander is what they think this community needs to read. That’s how they build an award-winning newspaper people love and tell their friends about, making it commercially viable as the go-to place for advertisers who want to reach our community.

That’s not to say I don’t have editorial input. Part of my job is to protect our mission, which you can find right above my name on this page. I keep watch to make sure what you read here is in line with who we are. The Highlander is 10 years old this week, so it’s time to reinforce that mission, to double down on encouraging Highlanders “to believe in themselves, in our community, and in their power to make our place in the world better every day.” This has never been more important.

I’m not alone in noticing how the past 18 months has put us on some kind of precipice: it feels we’re about to be pushed over the edge into something we don’t want to be. For the first time, I am hearing longtime Highlanders say it might be time to move on. It’s said people come here for the lakes and stay for the community.

This is true. Just look at the stories about our service clubs and not-for-profits, our thriving arts scene and successful businesses, and you’ll know this community has something special going for it. This is the kind of place where how you show up is more important than what you show up with, where you’re part of this place rather just in this place. We can protect all this, not by retreating into the past but by standing strong, creating our own future based on what makes the Highlands great.

All that requires is a steadfast belief in who we are and a strong resolve to ensure our future is what we want it to be. It means we have to think carefully about the decisions we make as a community. Above all, we need to know where we’re going.

Here at The Highlander, we’ll play a part in that. We’re not arrogant enough to think we have all the answers, but we do know how to ask questions. We also have you, our readers and our advertisers. We know you’ll tell us what we’re doing right and when we go wrong.

You’ll let us know what you want the Highlands to be and you’ll share your ideas about how to get there. Together, we will make the next 10 years a defining decade. We’ll emerge stronger and happier, proud of who we are and the lives we’ve built – as Highlanders.

HHHS reverses staff vaccine policy

By

Sam Gillett

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October 7, 2021

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MA-HHHS Health Hub -web — Health workers are still awaiting promised pandemic pay. File photo.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) has reversed an earlier decision meaning all staff must now be fully vaccinated by Nov. 15 or be put on unpaid leave until they are immunized.

The move comes after HHHS CEO Carolyn Plummer told a Sept. 23 board meeting that the health provider would not be making vaccines mandatory for all staff. That decision drew some criticism in the community. The new direction, explained to staff in an Oct. 4 memo, comes after the Ontario government introduced mandatory vaccines for workers in long-term care homes. “Our organization is quite interconnected,” said Plummer.

Since HHHS staff must move between service centres, including the hospital and LTC homes, she said it would be difficult to reestablish segregation protocols and barriers which were in place during the early stages of the pandemic. “This was a difficult decision that was not made lightly,” Plummer said.

In the memo, Plummer wrote “using an ethical lens, there are a number of reasons for why this change is happening, including the interconnected nature of our organization, the services we deliver, the need for staff and physicians working in other areas to access the long-term care homes, and the importance of equity across the organization.” Staff who remain unvaccinated, less than 12 per cent, have until Oct. 10 to get their first shot. There will be multiple drop-in appointments available for staff this week, and unvaccinated staff will be offered appointments. On Sept. 23, Plummer initially said a decision had been made to not force vaccinations.

“The hospitals that have gone forward with policies that lead to termination for those who aren’t vaccinated have the capacity to fill the gaps if staff do leave the organization. We certainly don’t have that same kind of capacity.” She also previously mentioned individual choice as a factor in the decision.

However, she said the level of vaccinated individuals is much higher than when the hospital first made the decision in early September. At around 88 per cent, there’s less worry about losing staff who choose not to get vaccinated. HHHS has also increased levels of contracted agency staff working in facilities, which Plummer said decreases the risk of understaffing in some departments.

“Regardless of which direction we took, we knew there were folks who would be supportive and folks who would be questioning the direction: we’ve seen that in both scenarios,” she said.

She also insisted the decision was not made quickly: “It isn’t like we’ve started the vaccine policy discussion on Friday afternoon, we’d already talked through a lot of these issues. “If someone was concerned about walking into the hospital and a staff being vaccinated at the time, my concern would be not having the hospital available at all,” she said, without clarifying the number of staff who would have had to leave for service levels to become unstable. Plummer said she is not aware of any staff choosing to leave HHHS because of the new ruling.

The Ontario Hospital Association is calling for a unified approach to vaccinations across Ontario.

In an Oct. 1 press release, CEO Anthony Dale wrote, “there is much evidence that hospitals have used measures to encourage, persuade and educate employees and staff who are vaccine hesitant to get the vaccine voluntarily. With COVID-19 vaccination becoming mandatory in long-term care, we feel the time has come to adopt a mandatory approach for all healthcare workers, including those in hospitals, too.”