Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The New York State mandate for health care workers to get vaccinated is putting pressure on medical facilities and hospitals say they are preparing to avoid staffing shortages and preventing the public from dealing with any possible changes.
Preparations are underway at ECMC. "We are setting up an incident command center," says Dr. Sam Cloud. "This will be staffed with administrators to deploy resources wherever needed." He says hospitals like ECMC are used to dealing with surges. "Whether it's multiple traumas coming at once or flu season, we're used to dealing with surges in patient volume and we're used to having to move things around so we have adequate staff in the right areas."
Cloud says inpatient elective surgery will be suspended. There will be also be staff in outpatient centers working at inpatient centers to ensure there is enough staffing.
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Cloud says 85 percent of the staff at ECMC is vaccinated. That number is 89 percent at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.
Alex Collichio says he's been preparing with a hiring blitz. "We're making sure we can fill all our vacancies, and posting the positions of unvaccinated employees," says Collichio. He adds the hospital looked for any shifts internally as well.
Collichio says there have been opportunites to take part in vaccination clinics and expects more to get vaccinated, albeit at the last minute. "We have a number employees can call to our pharmacists to get any questions about the vaccine answered. We want them to have all the valid information about the vaccine," explains Collichio.
He says all units will be operational on Monday and the public shouldn't see a difference.
Gov. Hochul has a warning for nurses not vaccinated. "We will find replacements. We'll be working to have a multi-pronged approach. We are looking at options and there are considerable options," says Hochul.
An announcement is expected in the next couple of days.