Bassett Healthcare
forced to cut service
because of worker shortages

By KEVIN LIMITI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

Just one day after the vaccination mandate deadline, Bassett Healthcare was forced to cut services in certain areas because of a loss of staff members, Tuesday, Sept. 28.

Bassett announced the changes Tuesday,  calling it a need to “redeploy staff temporarily” because of shortages.

Services affected include outpatient laboratory draws, which are now by appointment only. Cooperstown Convenient Care has been forced to close and wait times for phone calls will take longer than usual, according to a media release from Bassett Healthcare.

In an internal email Monday, Bassett President and CEO Tommy Ibrahim said 96% of staff were vaccinated.

“Thank you to each and every one of you who have made the choice to get vaccinated already,” Ibrahim said in the email.

Gabrielle Argo, a communications person for Bassett, said Bassett lost over 100 people since yesterday due to the vaccination mandate but said she felt they were doing “very well.”

“These changes to service are very temporary,” Argo said, who was “optimistic” that the changes would only be affective four a couple of weeks. “But we’ll continue to assess the situation.”

Argo said Ibrahim was not available to do interviews Tuesday.

Bassett was responding to a mandate from Gov. Kathy Hochul requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated. The decision drew protests in Cooperstown and Oneonta and left some wondering about the already precarious situation with understaffing at hospitals.