5 Charleston hospital employees fired after refusing to get COVID-19 vaccine
Five staff members at a Charleston-area health system were fired after refusing to follow a hospital policy that required them to get vaccinated against COVID-19, an infectious disease that has killed more than 600,000 people nationwide.
The hospital, the Medical University of South Carolina, had told its employees in mid-April that they had until June 30 to get vaccinated, according to MUSC Health spokeswoman Heather Woolwine.
According to the hospital policy, leaders and new hires would be vaccinated first, followed by the rest of the health system’s employees. All personnel, the policy said, would need to be vaccinated by June 30.
On Wednesday, the health system confirmed five employees had been let go because they had refused to follow the rules.
“As with any policy at MUSC Health, termination of employment is a last resort for noncompliance,” Woolwine said in a statement provided to The State newspaper. The news was first reported by WCIV ABC News 4.
The Medical University of South Carolina is currently the only hospital system in the Palmetto State known to be mandating COVID-19 inoculations for its employees, according to the S.C. Hospital Association.
The health system, however, did make exceptions for employees who submitted a medical or religious waiver. On Wednesday, Woolwine confirmed approximately 2,000-3,000 employees out of MUSC’s 17,000 employees have opted out with waivers.
In a June 25 statement shared with The State, Woolwine said the hospital policy is very similar to other policies regarding vaccines, such as the annual influenza vaccine, tetanus, or hepatitis B to ensure that MUSC Health has the highest patient safety environment at all times.
It is unknown at this time how many of the five terminated employees were medical personnel, such as doctors or nurses.
“We want to provide a place where people feel safe to come and receive care because we’ve achieved herd immunity in our system,” Woolwine said in June about the hospital policy.
A recent nationwide survey by the management consulting firm Willis Towers Watson found 3% of employers were currently requiring workers to get vaccinated before returning to the workplace and another 15% were planning to or considering implementing such a policy.
Fisher Phillips, a national labor and employment law firm with offices in Columbia, reported similar results last month after surveying more than 600 employers. Its poll found that 4% of employers were requiring or considering requiring a COVID-19 shot and another 13% were unsure.
News of the firings at MUSC comes just days after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told state health officials to prohibit any unsolicited door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination efforts, arguing that showing up unannounced at people’s homes and “pressuring” them to get vaccinated was “a bad policy.”
The statement on Friday put McMaster, a Republican, at odds with President Joe Biden, a Democrat who has encouraged the door-to-door inoculation effort.
According to public data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, as of Monday, 43.5% of the state’s residents have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations, and some 49.3% have had at least one shot.
Zak Koeske contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 2:13 PM with the headline "5 Charleston hospital employees fired after refusing to get COVID-19 vaccine."
