Vaccinate or Terminate

Govern Mills, announced on August 12 2021 that vaccination against covid 19 would be required by all Maine healthcare workers including any individual employed by a hospital, home health agency, nursing facility, residential care facility, or intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Also, those employed by emergency medical service organizations or dental practices.

This mandate took effect Friday, October 1st and now health care systems are trying to replace workers in a labor market plagued by acute staffing shortages. Maine Health, the parent company of Maine Medical Center in Portland and seven other hospitals in the state, is expected to lose about 350 to 400 workers. With great losses to the healthcare staff also comes with the compliance rates at major hospital systems being at about 98 percent or higher. Many chose to take the shot rather than throw away years of their lives studying and working.

Steven Littleson, the president and CEO of Central Maine Healthcare in Lewiston, said “In the meantime, the staffing crisis has led us to temporarily suspend inpatient pediatric admissions and our Special Care Nursery. We continue to deliver babies of 35 weeks or more of gestational age rather than 32 weeks and up. We are evaluating other services on a shift-to-shift basis, including our ability to accommodate elective surgery.”

Though vaccinations are increasing, hospitalizations also remain high. On Monday, 212 people were hospitalized for COVID-19, including 76 in intensive care and 41 on ventilators.