As the deadline for healthcare workers to get vaccinated draws near, hospitals in Oregon are bracing for the consequences.
In Douglas County, Mercy Medical Center is waiting to see just how much they'll be affected.
October 18th is circled on Oregon hospital calendars.
That's the day Governor Brown set for healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated.
"We are probably in the 70% range," reports Dr. Jason Gray, Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg. "It's hard to give an exact number at this point in time because some people have applied for the vaccine, some have completed the vaccine, some are in process, so they might've received the first dose."
Fully vaccinated means two weeks after your second dose, or first for Johnson and Johnson.
Gray says some of Mercy's staff won't meet the definition of fully vaccinated come the 18th.
"For those we have asked the governor's office a short, time-limited deferral so they can continue to work while they're in the process of being vaccinated. Otherwise we will lose their services potentially until five or six weeks after the 18th."
Mercy hasn't gotten an answer back yet.
Gray tells us they've had a few staff members say they won't comply with the mandate. But they won't know exactly how much of the staff they'll lose until the 18th.
"We could lose anywhere from 3%-4% of the staff, up to 12%-13% of our staff."
Mercy has around 1,200 employees, so that could be up to about 150 people.
Gray says they've had a couple hundred religious and medical exemptions filed.
"We support our employees. It's a personal decision. But we really hope for their sake and for our community's sake that they do obtain the vaccine or file for a religious or medical exemption."
Mercy is working with regional hospitals to make sure that they'll all have enough resources to treat patients.
"We're really focused on ensuring that all of the critical services, emergency department, obstetrics, surgical services, general care are impacted to the least amount possible."