North Carolina-based Novant Health announced Monday it fired approximately 175 employees for refusing to comply with the hospital system’s vaccination policy.
Last week, 375 unvaccinated employees across the hospital system were suspended and given five days to comply and in that period, Novant Health spokeswoman Megan Rivers said 200 team members did. “Less than 1% opted not to comply,” she said on Twitter. “We’re proud of the 35,000+ team members who chose to participate in the vaccinate mandate program with patient safety at the forefront.”
And over that 5 day period, an additional 200 team members did, bringing rate to over 99%. Less than 1% opted not to comply. We're proud of the 35,000+ team members who chose to participate in the vaccine mandate program with patient safety at forefront. https://t.co/YVWj4ghB98
— Megan Rivers (@MeganMRivers) September 28, 2021
According to The Washington Post, the termination of unvaccinated Novant Health employees “is among the largest of its kind to date.”
More than 150 health-care workers who did not comply with a vaccine mandate at Houston Methodist — one of the first health systems to require the coronavirus shots — were fired or resigned in June after a federal judge upheld the policy. ChristianaCare, a Delaware health system, announced this week that 150 employees were fired for not adhering to its vaccine mandate. (WaPo)
Critics pushed back on Twitter, arguing the decision to fire the unvaccinated is "medical tyranny."