Houston Methodist Hospital was one of the first medical systems in the United States to require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In April the hospital announced that staff would lose their jobs if they didn’t receive the vaccinations. A deadline was set for managers to be vaccinated by April 15 and all other employees by June 7. The hospital now says that 153 employees have either resigned or been fired for not following the mandate.
This is the latest development in the story. We’ve followed the story and written about the firing of a nurse who declined to be vaccinated and went to the Houston media with her story. 117 staffers filed a lawsuit against the hospital. Nurses planned a walk-out on the June 7 deadline. On June 13 I wrote about a federal judge who ruled in favor of the hospital.
On June 7, when 178 employees were suspended for not meeting the vaccination deadline or declaring their opposition to doing so, they received a two week period to provide proof of vaccinations. Twenty-five employees did get vaccinated. As soon as they complied, they returned to work the next day. Houston Methodist Hospital system has about 26,000 employees. CEO Marc Bloom says that 99% of employees are vaccinated. He noted that this success is being overshadowed by “a few disgruntled employees.’