Swan Hill District Health employees asked to ‘rethink’ their vax stance

THREE Swan Hill District Health (SHDH) employees risk termination unless they “rethink their position on vaccination”.

The health service confirmed to The Guardian that 99.2 per cent of its workforce was vaccinated under the Federal Government mandated healthcare vaccination program.

“SHDH has been very pleased with the response of its workforce to the mandated vaccination program with less than 0.8 per cent of employees overall choosing not to be vaccinated,” a spokesperson said.

Three employees have since resigned their positions.

“Three employees have been either placed on leave or stood down to allow them time to rethink their position on vaccination or risk termination of employment,” the spokesperson said.

“Pleasingly, a small number of initially reluctant employees have since chosen to be vaccinated.”

Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Dr Omar Khorshid said public health orders to make mandatory vaccinations a possibility for every health employer around the country were a “necessary step to ensure the hospitals remain safe for the patients and for staff”.

“You should not be worried about contracting a potentially deadly virus when you enter a healthcare facility,” he said.

“And we have an opportunity to make sure our healthcare sector is properly protected against COVID before we expose people to much risk in those settings.”

Dr Khorshid admitted he was concerned that mandating vaccines for healthcare workers would cause staff to exit, amid a shortage, when asked.

“We are, of course, concerned about the potential to lose a small number of health staff from hospitals that are already very short in all staff,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, we still have to protect people and we cannot have a workplace that’s safe – in a COVID environment or if COVID is in our community – if every single worker in our healthcare facilities aren’t vaccinated.

“It’s just a necessary practical step, even though it’s one that will be quite uncomfortable for many.”