Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport fires unvaccinated employees
Seven full-time employees at Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport were fired this week for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Some part-time employees were let go as well, but the hospital did not give an exact number.
"As one of the largest and most beloved specialty health care systems in the world, Shriners Hospitals for Children cares for one of the most vulnerable populations: children. Many of our patients have serious underlying conditions that put them in high risk categories; more are ineligible for vaccines because of their age," Mel Bower, Shriners’ chief communications and marketing officer said.
According to Bower employees were given a deadline of Monday, Dec. 6 to be fully vaccinated with the knowledge that if they did not adhere to this deadline they would be terminated.
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"It has been a process this week of doing the notification of termination," Bower said."Shriners Hospitals for Children has always put the needs of our patients first. Vaccination protects our patients’ health and well-being and helps us safeguard one another, our families and our communities."
This comes after President Biden's administrative appeal blocking the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers was denied.
The COVID-19 vaccine emergency regulation issued Nov. 4 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would have required staff at providers that participate in the programs to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 6 and be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022.
This emergency regulation was blocked by a Louisiana federal judge and then appealed by Biden creating a stay on the vaccine mandate.
Although, a stay was placed on the mandate private employers are still at liberty to require the vaccine.
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Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport fires unvaccinated staff
