According to a report, a Houston hospital suspended 178 staff for two weeks without pay for refusing a coronavirus vaccine. Dozens of employees at a Houston Hospital System have been suspended or face discharge for refusing to vaccinate COVID-19, a controversial company mandate that has provoked protests and outcry, and could face termination. Marc Boom, CEO of Houston Hospital System, wrote in an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post on Tuesday that all 25,000 health care workers must be vaccinated by Monday or choose not to.
About 200 hospital staff who missed vaccination appointments have been suspended without pay. They were given 14 days to comply, or they could lose their jobs. At least 178 staff have been suspended for two weeks without pay for refusing to be vaccinated.
The deadline for employees to receive COVID vaccines or face losing their jobs on Monday has led to a lawsuit by more than 100 nurses. A total of 178 Houston Methodist Hospital employees have been suspended for failing to comply with the hospital’s COVID-19 – vaccination requirements, the hospital said Tuesday night, after 24,947 workers met the requirements and were vaccinated. The suspended employees are a mix of full-time and part-time employees. Monday was the deadline the hospital set for its staff to sue or opt out of the vaccine, with 27% receiving only one dose.
The Houston Methodist Hospital System in Texas suspended 178 employees for failing to meet a deadline for getting a COVID-19 vaccine, a policy that has inspired more than 100 employees to file lawsuits against the hospital system. The stalemate is one of the most prominent examples of employers “desire to have their workers vaccinated and to test whether workers are slowed down by hesitation in vaccination, and in some cases the dispute has spilled across health systems. In response, Houston Methodist noted that hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine were administered through a review process that included three rounds of clinical trials.
The approval of the first COVID-19 vaccination in the United States raises the question of whether hospitals can require employees to be vaccinated. The problem has been a solitary event yesterday when Houston Methodist Hospital suspended 178 employees for 14 days without pay for refusing to be vaccinated, reporting Axios this morning. Most medical experts who spoke to Infection Control Today (R / ICT / R) about the issue said that the fact that the vaccine has received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration (EEA) prevents hospitals from ordering Covid-19 vaccinations for all employees.
Houston Methodist made headlines as the country’s first hospital system to require the COVID-19 vaccine for all employees, with the exception of religious and medical exemptions and deferrals for pregnancy and lactation. According to a statement from the hospital system, 100% of the staff members complied with the mandate. 178 employees were suspended but 285 received medical or religious exemptions to circumvent the vaccine and 332 received a deferral for pregnancy or other reasons.
Houston Methodist Hospital has suspended 200 staff for failing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination order. In an email obtained by The Washington Examiner, the president and CEO of Houston Methodist Hospital, Marc Boom, told employees that they refused to take the vaccine or did not give religious or medical exemptions. After 118 hospital employees organized a protest march against the mandate on May 28, they sued the hospital to take disciplinary action against them.
The hospital system, which has a medical center and six community hospitals, gave employees until Monday to get vaccinated against the coronavirus so that at least 25,000 employees receive their vaccinations on time, Dr. Marc Boom, CEO of Houston Methodist, told employees Tuesday in an email to CBS Moneywatch. The hospital system suspended 178 employees who did not comply with the guidelines, including 27 who received only one dose of the vaccine, but Boom is confident employees will receive their second dose, he said. The memo was sent to staff on Tuesday, the deadline for Houston Methodist Hospitals’ self-imposed vaccination mandate.
About 25,000 Houston Methodist workers were vaccinated against COVID-19, but 178 employees were suspended without pay for not receiving the shots. In a statement to hospital staff on Tuesday, Houston Methodist chief executive Marc Boom said 27 of the suspended workers had received a dose of the vaccine. Another 285 employees received medical or religious exemptions for coronavirus vaccine, and 332 workers received deferrals for pregnancy or other reasons, Boom wrote.
The 178 unvaccinated employees, who have no religious or medical exemption, have been suspended without pay, including 27 vaccinated. Another 285 employees received medical or religious exemptions, and 332 received reprieves. More than 600 staff have been granted reprieves on medical and religious grounds, the hospital said.
Amanda Rivera, a nurse in the emergency room, told NBC affiliate KPRC that she was one of the 178 unvaccinated employees who did not receive a religious or medical exemption and would face termination if she refused to comply. Of the 285 unvaccinated workers who received medical or religious exemptions, 332 others received a reprieve. The rest are subject to termination, with a statement on Tuesday saying 285 other employees received medical and religious leave and 332 were put on hold because of pregnancies or other reasons.
A Houston hospital has suspended 178 employees who have refused to comply with its order to have all employees vaccinated by Monday. Houston Methodist Hospital System is also suing 117 non-vaccinated employees for failing to provide vaccines as a condition of employment. About 25,000 Houston Methodist employees have been vaccinated as part of the health care system against COVID-19, said Houston Methodist President Dr. Marc Boom in a statement on Tuesday.
