Rochester, N.Y. - Monroe County leaders are responding to the ongoing shortage of healthcare workers and say they are in talks with local hospitals regarding New York's upcoming vaccine mandate.

County Executive Adam Bello says leaders from URMC and Rochester Regional Health will be making a joint announcement with county leaders next week.

The statewide mandate for healthcare workers to be vaccinated takes effect Sept. 27.

Mark Donoghue is a visiting nurse through Rochester Regional Health. He says he typically sees five to six patients each day, but says the work is adding up.

"On my team alone, we’re down about three to four nurses already out of a possible 10 or 12. That puts a hit on those of us that are still here," said Donoghue.

As a result, Donoghue says his team has already been notified about a likely reduction in services they will be able to provide.

"When the mandate goes through, we are no longer going to be able to provide evening coverage. They’re looking into ways to solve that, but that’s hard to do," said Donoghue. "The next few weeks, I think, are going to be very difficult."

During a COVID briefing Thursday, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello addressed a pending plan with local hospitals.

"Am I concerned? Of course I am. Right now, we have healthcare workers working 24 hour days, around the clock, to make sure our patients receive all the critical healthcare they need," said Bello, "We have an obligation as a community to get them back to normal and get them the resources they need to do their jobs. The only way to do that is to vaccinate."

Bello added hospitals are sorting through legal issues ahead of next week's announcement.

As of Thursday, Bello announced 91 percent of workers at Strong Memorial Hospital have already been vaccinated, and 87 percent at Rochester General Hospital and 79 percent at Monroe Community Hospital.