Staffing Losses Over Health Care System Vaccine Mandates Have Some Medical Labs Closed, And Patients Scrambling

GLENVIEW, Ill. (CBS) -- Chicago doctors say there is no getting around it – a COVID-19 surge is on the way, and we're already seeing the signs of it now.

The seven-day average of new cases per day in Illinois is 3,452.

There are vaccine mandates in place for area health care systems, but for a Palatine man, the rules are working against him. As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported Monday night, the mandate is making it harder for Doug Stevenson to get simple lab work done.

Stevenson traveled to three different lab locations in a week - only to find them closed, and we learned that could become even more common moving forward. Sometimes, the labs' closures are marked online – but not always.

Sitting outside his Palatine home, Stevenson said it is not as easy to get around anymore.

"I've got a leg issue," he said. "I'm a little hobbled these days. I have to Uber everywhere."

That makes the NorthShore University HealthSystem lab work runaround he has been through this month that much more difficult.

"It gets expensive too," Stevenson said. "So it kind of shut me down."

Three rideshares, three lab locations – and Stevenson still has no bloodwork.

Why? He was told: "As of the 30th of October, all personnel are required to be vaccinated, and not all people wanted to go that route."

We reached NorthShore about that, and how they're communicating closures to patients like Stevenson - since in some cases, what is marked online isn't always accurate.

A spokesperson responded with a statement that didn't address most of our questions:

"Like many industries nationwide, healthcare is experiencing staffing shortages. However, we remain focused on what matters most—providing our patients with safe, exceptional and quality care, which is the guiding principle of our employee vaccine policy. We are committed to managing through the current challenges effectively; and encourage our patients to receive lab work at any of our six hospitals and many of our other medical office locations."

NorthShore continued in an additional statement:

"We continue to prioritize safety in all of our patient care settings. Any closures resulting from temporary staffing issues are regularly evaluated and not long-term planned closures. We will continue to adjust as needed. Patients may access specific information about our lab locations, updated daily, by visiting northshore.org/labs."

The health care system said it had no additional information to provide beyond those statements.

As to the issue with staffers and the vaccine mandate, we do know NorthShore is not alone.

Advocate Aurora Health lost about 440 team members to the mandate last month:

"With about 99% of our team members compliant or in the process of becoming compliant with our vaccine policy, we are protecting the health and safety of our patients, communities and each other. About 440 team members - 0.6% of our workforce, nearly half of whom were per diem - were not in compliance and have parted ways with the organization."

Lurie Children's Hospital lost a fraction of a percent of their workforce, according to a spokesperson.:

"We are proud that the Lurie Children's community has overwhelmingly supported vaccination efforts. In fact, only a small fraction of one percent of our workforce elected to leave employment due to the vaccine requirement. Lurie Children's continues its steadfast commitment to ensuring the safest environment possible for our patients, families and staff."

Others still haven't seen an impact. A spokesman for Northwestern Medicine told me employees have until the first of the new year to be fully vaccinated, until then, anyone without documentation tests weekly:

"Employees without documentation of vaccination are required to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Beginning January 1, 2022, proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be a requirement of employment, except for those that receive an approved medical or religious exemption," Northwestern Medicine spokesman Christopher N. King said in the statement.

Stevenson said the next ride he pays for will be to a lab he is positive is open.

"The dominoes start to tumble," he said.

NorthShore University Health System did not address what impact the closures are having on wait times at the six hospitals to which they advised people go, or when we could see all the labs open back up again.