Ontario’s nurses union has declared war on hospitals that require nurses to get a flu shot or wear a mask.

The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is running radio ads in cities whose hospitals stepped up efforts to get staff vaccinated before the flu season peaks, something that could happen as soon as the holidays.

The campaign stunned public health officials and hospital leaders who say the nurses’ union is distorting the truth and threatening people’s health across the province.

“I’m flabbergasted,” Dr. Christopher Mackie, the medical officer of health for London and Middlesex County, said Wednesday. “It risks harming the health of the public, their members and the patients they serve.”

The union’s radio ads begins with a broadside against efforts by public health officials to get people vaccinated before the flu season peaks: “Did you know, experts say the flu vaccine is only 40 to 60% effective?”

But Mackie says the claim is deceptive, that 60% of healthy adults are protected against the flu and that the lower figure is for those with compromised immune systems.

“To use that statistic out of context is irresponsible,” he said. “This is a critical time (to get vaccinated).”

There’s an irony to the nurses’ union campaign, Mackie said. After the 2003 SARS outbreak, the union pushed the government to buy pricey masks to give nurses peace of mind even though the masks aren’t more protective. But now, the ONA is fighting hospitals that require a flu shot or a mask of its staff to protect patients.

“They are really speaking out of both sides of their mouths,” Mackie said.

It’s true many hospital patients aren’t protected well by the flu shot because of their compromised immune systems, said Dr. Allison McGeer, a microbiologist and director of infectious disease at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. But that vulnerability makes it more critical for nurses to get the flu shot so that they don’t spread what could be a deadly disease.

Ontario Nurses’ Association president Linda Haslam-Stroud couldn’t be reached Wednesday for an interview.

But in a media release, the union singled out hospitals that do more than encourage staff to get a flu shot, accusing them of coercing nurses to get a shot and shaming those who didn’t.

Nine hospitals are targeted in ads, including London Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, Bluewater Health in Sarnia, and the first hospital to require a flu shot or a mask, North Bay Regional Health Centre .

The union also asked members to email form letters to politicians and hospitals — the inbox of North Bay chief executive Paul Heinrich was flooded.

Heinrich was surprised his hospital was targeted. Last year, North Bay required staff to get a flu shot or antiviral medication, but when nurses were upset, they added another option this year, wearing a mask — a change nurses supported.

The new program has been so well-received, 84% of staff have been vaccinated and Heinrich is confident that mark will soon top 90%, double what some Ontario hospitals achieve.

“I wonder if the ONA is truly representative of its membership,” he said.

The head of infection control at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s, Dr. Michael John, said nurses there agreed to new requirements to get a shot or wear a mask —rules also applied to visitors.

“Nobody is trying to shame nurses. Protecting our patients is what we want,” he said.

Immunization rates among London staff jumped to 70% after years of not rising above the 50s, he said.

On a day of strong views, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews straddled the fence, saying that though flu shots were the best tool to stem that disease, it was important for the ONA to give its members a choice.

“I think it’s for the hospitals and the unions to work this out,” she said.

jonathan.sher@sunmedia.ca

Twitter.com/JSHERatLFPress

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FLU SHOT SHOOTOUT

For years, Ontario hospitals encouraged staff to get flu shots, but rates plateaued below 60%

Six years ago, a hospital in North Bay required staff to get a flu shot, an antiviral drug or to go home.

This year, eight more Ontario hospitals have told staff to get a flu shot or wear a mask or sticker indicating if they had the shot.

The Ontario Nurses’ Association is running ads targeting those hospitals and asking nurses to pressure them and Queens Park to back off.

WHAT THEY SAID

“For the first time in years and years and years, I actually feel good about our influenza control plans.”

— Dr. Michael John, London’s head of infection control, on new requirements for staff and visitors to get a flu shot or wear a mask

“Questioning the whole idea of the flu shot is irresponsible.”

— Dr. Christopher Mackie, medical officer of health for London and Middlesex County.

“London Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph’s Health Care London and St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital are trying to coerce nurses into having a flu vaccine or be publicly stigmatized if they choose not to.”

— Ontario Nurses’ Association president Linda Haslam-Stroud in a media release