Health care facilities juggle staffing shortages since vaccine mandate

Two outpatient clinics are temporarily closed. This is due to staffing issues after the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers went into effect.

These are the Nathan Littauer clinics in Johnstown and Broadalbin.

The hospital says it’s unclear when the clinics will reopen, since the staff was reallocated for the time being.

There are 96% of the workers at that organization who are vaccinated.

Thirty-six employees are not, and are suspended without pay for 14 days. If they still do not comply with the new mandate, they will be fired.

Hospitals around the state are dealing with similar scenarios.

The CEO of Albany Med says whether they can do elective procedures comes down to whether nursing homes can accept patients. That’s because that’s where some patients go once they leave the hospital. If nursing homes have to close because of a lack of vaccinated staff, that creates a backlog of sorts.

That’s a fear of Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin.

"So, so much for not overrunning the healthcare system. The healthcare system will get overrun, not because of patients, but because of lack of staff," he said.

Rensselaer County has 90% of staff vaccinated.

Learn about how the state is working to fill the gap by watching the video of Rachel Tiede’s story.