Employees at the University Health Network who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine could eventually be forced to take a leave of absence as the hospital system begins to examine the possibility of imposing stricter rules for its nearly 1,000 unvaccinated workers.

The UHN has had a policy requiring that all fulltime and part-time employees either get vaccinated or participate in a regular testing program since early August, weeks ahead of Tuesday’s announcement requiring that similar policies be adopted by all hospitals and community care providers in Ontario by Sept. 7.

In an interview with CTV News Toronto on Wednesday, UHN CEO Kevin Smith said that the policy has been successful in boosting the vaccination numbers at UHN hospitals to the point that 92 per cent of all workers are now fully vaccinated. That is up from 85 per cent in July.

But he said that about 950 people remain unvaccinated and are participating in a regular testing program in which they have to submit a negative result 48 prior to their shift.

“We frankly are going back to say are there places in UHN or all of UHN because of what an acute environment it is where we have to insist that people actually participate in a vaccine program or think about taking a leave of absence. So we are just in that process now,” he said.

The Ford government has said that hospitals and public and private schools will, at a minimum, have to have vaccination policies which require that unvaccinated workers participate in a regular testing program and attend and educational session on COVID-19 vaccines.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore, however, has indicated that the rules are simply a baseline and that individual employers can put stricter rules into place should they choose to.

Smith said that UHN would "love to avoid termination wherever possible" but he suggested it could be used as a last resort in some instances.

"The needs of the patient comes first. That at times will require us to make very difficult decisions by always in the best interests of patients," he said.

UHN oversees a number of downtown hospitals, including Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Colin D’Mello.