85 Manitoba direct-care workers put on unpaid leave over failure to get COVID-19 testing

Dozens of Manitoba direct-care workers have been placed on unpaid leave as of Tuesday, after failing to comply with public health orders, including getting vaccinated against COVID-19 or submitting to routine testing.

A total of 85 direct-care staff have been placed on leave, Shared Health, the organization that co-ordinates health care in the province, said Tuesday afternoon. That number stood at 30 as of Monday afternoon.

The absences haven't yet created any big staffing shortages, according to Shared Health.

The holes are being backfilled with redeployed health-care staff, volunteers from the pool of casual provincial employees, managers and staff who have agreed to travel for support services, Shared Health said.

Health-care workers and personal care home staff are among thousands of public employees who were required to be vaccinated by Monday or submit to COVID-19 testing every 48 hours.

As of Monday, about 36,500 of the province's roughly 42,000 direct-care workers had completed the disclosure process, Shared Health said.

Of those, 29,389 direct-care staff who work with patients, residents and clients had been verified as vaccinated. About 5,400 others notified their employer they are vaccinated and are waiting on their submissions to be verified.

Roughly 1,800 staff had completed the process and weren't vaccinated as of Monday, meaning they will be required to undergo three tests per week to work.

A Manitoba union representing thousands of direct health-care workers says privacy issues might be causing the reluctance. 

The Canadian Union of Public Employees in Manitoba says the setup of on-site COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated employees has the potential to violate the province's Personal Health Information Act.

"We're in the business of health care and protecting people's health information — that's a big part of the job," said Shannon McAteer, health-care co-ordinator for CUPE, a union that represents 18,000 health-care staff in Manitoba.

The PHIA states anyone collecting health information must have safeguards in place to ensure confidentiality, security, accuracy and integrity of the information.

McAteer said health-care staff are frustrated with how visible the testing protocols have been. She said while the test themselves happen in private areas, everyone can see who goes in and out of those spaces.

"It's too open," said McAteer, adding that not all sites have these issues. She said the union had to stop some centres after they lined up employees into queues of vaccinated and unvaccinated staff.