47 employees at Ottawa's children's hospital suspended without pay for violating vaccine mandate
Forty-seven employees at Ottawa's Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario have been placed on unpaid leave, and could be fired in two weeks, for failing to comply with its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
In August, CHEO announced all doctors, nurses, staff, volunteers, learners and contractors must receive two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to enter the facility. The policy started on Sept. 7.
As of Friday, 99.3 per cent of full-time personnel and 97.6 per cent of part-time and casual personnel are immunized at CHEO. The hospital has a total of 3,865 personnel on site.
Three employees have been granted a medical exemption.
"In total 47 personnel, which includes 29 part-time and casual, have chosen not to get vaccinated and are therefore being placed on unpaid suspension leave," said CHEO in a statement on Friday afternoon.
"We hope all of these people will choose to come back to work at CHEO by getting vaccinated in the next two weeks. If they don’t do so by October 29, their employment at CHEO will come to an end."
CHEO says 70 per cent of the children and youth it serves are not currently eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination, and it's important to add in this extra layer of protection at the hospital.
"Evidence-based vaccines add one more layer of protection to keep everyone safe at CHEO in addition to universal masking, physical distancing, entrance screening and other safety measures," said CHEO.
Two hundred and three employees at Bruyère Continuing Care, CHEO and the Queensway Carleton Hospital have been or will be placed on unpaid leave for failing to comply with COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
On Friday, the Queensway Carleton Hospital announced 37 employees were put on unpaid leave for violating the vaccine mandate.
The hospital in Ottawa's west end announced Friday afternoon that 98 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated and complying with the new policy for staff.
Ottawa's Bruyere announced early Friday afternoon that 119 employees are now on unpaid leave for failing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.