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As of October 12, all Sienna Senior Living staff — including North Bay's Waters Edge Care Community team members — who are not fully vaccinated will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence.
Announced in late August, this "new vaccination policy will enhance protection against the virus for the people we care for and team members who deliver that care, as well as essential caregivers and visiting family members," stated Nitin Jain, President and CEO.
Full vaccination — two doses of the vaccine plus 14 days — would require the second vaccination to be administered by Tuesday for team members. Two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are also a requirement for all new hires, students, and agency personnel.
See related from BayToday's archives: Long-term care ministry asks homes to work on increasing staff vaccine uptake
And: Waters Edge seniors home to require employees to be fully vaccinated
Sienna says it is aiming to increase its staff vaccination rate to "nearly 100 per cent" by October 12, thanks to the mandatory vaccine policy developed by a coalition of private-sector national seniors’ living operators, including Sienna, Chartwell, Extendicare, Responsive Group, and Revera and put in place for all their long-term care and retirement home staff across Canada.
"It is essential to note that close to 90 percent of all team members have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine," Jain shares. "We did not take this step lightly and are following the best medical advice from our physician experts."
According to the coalition, the safety of residents spurred the companies to come together and develop the mandatory vaccination policy. Over 95 per cent of Sienna residents had been vaccinated as of mid-September.
"Unvaccinated staff are more likely to bring the virus to work," it reads. The policy "increases the level of safety and improves the quality of life for residents by reducing the need for isolation and disruption of daily activities that result from outbreak restrictions. It also protects ongoing access to visits from family members, which are critical to the well-being of all those in our care for whom outbreak restrictions have been difficult."
See also: Vaccinations in long-term care homes saved hundreds of lives, report says
And: Premier pleads with long-term care staff to roll up their sleeves for COVID-19 vaccinations
At local public-sector Cassellholme, the staff vaccination rate hovers around the 90 per cent mark, according to operations director Angie Punnett but management has not gone to the same lengths as the coalition of private companies when it comes to making measures mandatory.
"We seem to be getting applicants who have had COVID-19 shots, so that's a good sign for us — less testing," reported Punnett during the most recent Cassellholme board meeting.
Cassellholme CEO Jamie Lowery added, "We called a meeting with the other long-term care homes in the area and Au Chateau has elected to make [staff vaccination] mandatory and Eastholme has not.
"We looked at our vaccination rate and it's very high, I would say, and even the ones that aren't vaccinated for medical reasons or they're on leave — the intention is, if they're not vaccinated, we make it incredibly hard for them. They're going to have to go to the hospital to get a PCR test — it will be a pain for them — to encourage them to get the vaccination. That's why we opted to not make it mandatory, because of our vaccination rate."
