Despite pushing a strong 'get vaccinated' message to the community for months, Albury Wodonga Health has revealed nearly a third of its staff are yet to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
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It comes as Health Minister Brad Hazzard said 80 per cent of all NSW Health staff have already had their first dose of COVID-19 vaccination.
Chief executive officer Michael Kalimnios said the organisation couldn't keep a definitive record of staff vaccination rates.
"We actually don't have a system available that allows us to do that, because of privacy issues," he said.
"So what we do, is we're going through sort of a manual survey process; we're actually asking staff to complete a declaration form so we can identify whether they've been vaccinated or not."
Mr Kalimnios said approximately 70 per cent of AWH staff had been vaccinated so far.
"A lot of them, it's just that they haven't gotten round to doing it," he said.
"We haven't counted a lot of vaccine hesitancy, in terms of not wanting to get a vaccine, it's really making sure staff have the time.
"We obviously have got processes in place with our vaccination clinic where we do prioritise staff from high-risk areas, so we're encouraging them to get vaccinated and we're supporting staff in doing that as much as we can."
Mr Kalimnios said if staff wouldn't or couldn't be vaccinated discussions were had about where they might be more appropriately deployed.
"From my perspective not having enough time or just not getting around to it really isn't an excuse," he said.
"We really do want to make sure that any staff member, particularly in those high-risk areas do go and get vaccinated, so [we] certainly emphasise that to them when that kind of response comes back."
"We think it is the responsibility of us as a significant employer in the state to put in place all the support we can to encourage our employees to get on and make sure that they are all vaccinated as soon as possible," he said.
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The Australian Private Hospitals Association has called on the National Cabinet to make vaccinations for hospital workers mandatory.
APHA chief executive Michael Roff said the move was "essential" to ensure the health and safety of hospital workers, patients and visitors as well as preserving the capacity of the hospital system going forward.
"Hospitals and health services have also been particularly vulnerable to outbreaks causing the furlough of many thousands of staff, resulting in a reduction in health system capacity at a time when it is most needed," he said.
"The sector needs the support and commitment of the National Cabinet to achieve full vaccination of this essential workforce.
"Clear communications, deliberate planning and coordination will be required so the level of vaccination required can be achieved in all parts of the hospital sector."
Meanwhile, NSW has mandated state healthcare workers will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to help ensure the safety of colleagues and patients in all public and private hospitals.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said under the public health order, health staff must provide evidence of their first dose by September 30 and be fully vaccinated by November 30, or at least have their second appointment booked to continue working.
"It will also ease pressure on our health system during this challenging time," he said.
"More than 1200 healthcare workers have been in isolation each day over the past seven days and we cannot afford that right now.
"Vaccinations will help ensure our fantastic staff can continue to care for patients.
"The public and private health systems have a responsibility to implement every possible measure to provide a safe work environment for their staff and most importantly, safe circumstances for their patients."
Frontline health staff and their families have had priority access to COVID-19 vaccines since the commencement of the federal government's vaccination roll out in February.
In a statement, an Albury Wodonga Private Hospital spokesperson said the Hospital supported COVID-19 vaccination of health care workers and had been encouraging all staff to get vaccinated, including by providing leave for employees to receive their doses.
"It is up to the government to mandate vaccination for health care workers, as has been enacted by the NSW Government today," the spokesperson said.
"But in doing so, it must be acknowledged that there are some vaccine supply and access issues.
"These are particularly evident in regional areas and must be fixed before there can be an expectation of mandatory jabs."
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