New York could use National Guard to fill ranks of unvaccinated health care workers

New York may lose a large portion of its health care workers once the state’s expanded vaccine mandate takes effect on Monday, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s already got plans to fill the ranks.

Hochul issued a statement on Saturday that said she is prepared to declare a state of emergency to sure up staffing at medical facilities should unvaccinated workers fail to comply with the mandate.

The workforce would be supplemented by health care workers who are licensed to practice in other states or countries, recent graduates and retired professionals. Hochel said her office would collaborate with federal officials and other states to find ways to expedite visa requests for medical workers.

Another option would be to deploy medically trained National Guard members and deployment of Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) to assist local health and medical systems.

"We are still in a battle against COVID to protect our loved ones, and we need to fight with every tool at our disposal," Hochul said. "I am monitoring the staffing situation closely, and we have a plan to increase our health care workforce and help alleviate the burdens on our hospitals and other health care facilities."

Last month, New York’s health department issued an order for all health care workers to be vaccinated by Sept. 27. It expanded an earlier mandate that only applied to state health care professionals.

As of Sept. 22, just 84% of New York State’s hospital employees were fully vaccinated, Gov. Hochul’s office said.

And only 81% of staff at all adult care facilities and 77% of all staff at nursing homes in the state were fully vaccinated by Sept. 23. Staff at other covered entities including home care, hospice and adult care facilities have until Oct. 7 to become fully vaccinated.