Houston Methodist, a Houston Texas hospital, suspended 178 health-care workers for failing to comply with a strict vaccine mandate. The CEO of the hospital system confirmed the suspensions to the Washington Post on Tuesday. Almost 30,000 employees have been fully vaccinated by Monday's deadline. 178 opted to skip the shot in hopes that the hospital would not follow through on its threat to suspend non-compliant staff.
Unfortunately for those 178, the hospital called their bluff. Now they are all suspended for two weeks, without pay.
The CEO, Marc Boom, put out a statement:
“Of these employees, 27 have received one dose of vaccine, so I am hopeful they will get their second doses soon. I know that today may be difficult for some who are sad about losing a colleague who’s decided to not get vaccinated. We only wish them well and thank them for their past service to our community, and we must respect the decision they made.”
285 employees were able to receive a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine and an additional 332 employees were able to defer vaccination due to preganancy or other specific reasons. They were not suspended.
In March Boom put out a public statement stating that all staff members needed to get vaccinated to "set an example and protect patients." Obviously, there were threats of lawsuits. That did not deter Boom.
Twitter was supportive:
Absolutely the right thing to do. Who wants an unvaccinated hospital worker attending to a family member or other patients who may or may not be vaccinated.
— Stavros@ (@stgmobile) June 9, 2021
If I were a patient in a hospital, the last thing I would want is to be treated by a nurse or a physician or a physiotherapist or whatever that (a) has not been vaccinated for covid, and (b) mistrusts or doesn't understand basic medical science.
— Mary-Pat Cormier (@marypatcormier) June 9, 2021
Getting rid of medical workers that don't believe in modern medicine and may be a disease vector to their patients seems very logical.
— Alt Spec (@SpecAlt) June 9, 2021
They want to practice a profession based on science they don't believe in? Seems....awkward.
— AlanInAustin (@AlanGerard) June 9, 2021
On the plus side, there are 178 job openings in the Houston hospital system.
— Seth “Long Boi” Quimby (@TeamQuimbyNH) June 9, 2021
Texas is a right to work state and these anti-vaxers have the right to work somewhere else.
— Todd Moss (@mossman72) June 9, 2021
