Miramar Beach Florida:
Ascension Sacred Heart announced in July that employees not vaccinated by Nov. 12th would be out on November 12th. Today is that deadline, and employees who have chosen not to get the vaccine are now kicked to the curb.
In support of these healthcare heroes and the liberty of vaccine choice, a crowd of protestors have gathered outside of Ascension’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Miramar Beach this morning.
According to multiple employees of the hospital system on social media, there have allegedly been very few…if any… religious and/or health related exemptions approved by Sacred Heart higher ups for the mandate.
Which is kind of sketchy at best considering the following:
Ascension is a nonprofit hospital system that is affiliated with the Catholic Church… a religious organization that frequently exercises its religious freedoms in not allowing its employee’s health insurance program to assist with paying for contraception for its policy holders.
Many of the protestors feel that the entire mandate is absolutely ridiculous considering that the doctors and nurses have been on the front lines of treating this pandemic since the beginning, many have active antibodies against the virus or have already had the virus, and that many of these people are actually experts in their respective medical fields.
In addition, there are reports that there is already an apparent shortage of medical personnel available. Many have expressed concerns that the firings will cause an additional reduction in the quality of care and could even incur additional risks to patient safety.
We will be watching this diligently as the situation continues to develop.
UPDATE:
Yesterday, Ascension announced that they will be offering employees a chance for reinstatement if unvaccinated employees were to get vaccinated by January 4th. No answers came in this announcement as to whether tenure, benefits, and other employee related details would also be reinstated.
