August 27, 2021 – The Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH) will require all of its staff, physicians, contractors, volunteers and students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of October 15, 2021.

The new policy, unanimously approved by the CCH Board of Directors, comes after Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health issued Directive #6 on August 17, which set out requirements for healthcare worker vaccination policies under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.

There has since been a growing trend both across the province and regionally for hospitals to adopt policies for mandatory vaccination against COVID-19.

Currently more than 86% of staff and 99% of medical staff at CCH are fully vaccinated. With this new policy, the hospital expects every member of its organization to be immunized, an important step to ensuring the safety of staff, physicians and patients.
“CCH proudly cares for some of our area’s most vulnerable patients, such as youth or people who may come to our hospital to receive chemotherapy, dialysis, and critical care. They shouldn’t have to worry about contracting COVID-19 or the vaccination status of our healthcare workers,” says Jeanette Despatie, President and CEO.

Unvaccinated staff will have until September 7 to receive their first dose and until October 15 to receive their second dose. By taking a phased approach, CCH is ensuring that staff who have not yet been vaccinated have the necessary time to receive both doses.

CCH will also provide education and consultation on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines to ensure unvaccinated staff are fully informed.

“From the onset of this pandemic, CCH made a commitment to our staff, physicians and community that we would do everything we could to ensure their safety. Mandating vaccines for COVID-19, as we do for other infectious diseases, is simply the right thing to do,” added Despatie.