AHS to require all employees and contracted health care providers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

Alberta Health Services announced today it will require all employees and contracted health care providers to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by October 31, 2021.

The policy will include physicians and other front-line health care workers, including nurses, said AHS President and CEO Verna Yiu.

United Nurses of Alberta has not had the opportunity to fully review the policy, but the union is not opposed to it as it was described in the news release and news conference, said Labour Relations Director David Harrigan.

UNA believes that the question of mandatory vaccination is not a labour-relations or political question but is a public health policy issue that needs to be made by public health experts, Harrigan said.

It is now appropriate for the employer and the unions to sit down and determine how it is going to be implemented, he added.

The AHS news release described the policy as a necessary step required to protect patients, vulnerable and immune-compromised Albertans, and anyone who visits or works at any AHS site, including health care facilities.

Dr. Yiu said during the news conference the employer is “targeting as close to 100 per cent” compliance by employees and others covered as possible.

She told the news conference that AHS “had very strong legal input” and “we are very confident that the policy is legal,” notwithstanding past statements by elected government officials.

The policy will apply to all AHS, Alberta Precision Labs, CareWest, Capital Care, and Covenant Health employees, members of medical and midwifery staffs, students, volunteers and any other persons acting on their behalf. That includes contracted continuing care providers and contracted workers.

“Any AHS employee who is unable to be immunized due to a medical reason, or for another protected ground under the Alberta Human Rights Act, will be reasonably accommodated up to the point of undue hardship and in accordance with the AHS Workplace Accommodation Policy,” Dr. Yiu said in a memorandum to staff, physicians and volunteers.

That is among the implementation questions that the union and employer will need to discuss, Harrigan said.

UNA will update members as more information becomes available.