Diehl Urges Hospitals to Revoke Vaccine mandate for Nurses
(Whitman, MA – 11/8/21) Geoff Diehl is calling on Massachusetts hospitals to end their termination policy for unvaccinated employees which is causing hundreds of nurses to lose their jobs right before the holidays at a time when the healthcare industry is already short-staffed, and there is a question as to whether these workers can even claim unemployment benefits.
In an updated article in the Boston Business Journal yesterday, “The state’s largest health systems are terminating hundreds of health care workers for failing to meet vaccine mandate deadlines. The terminations include employees who filed a lawsuit against the health system over its vaccine mandate, after the courts decided Thursday not to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the health system from moving forward with the terminations. The broader court case is still ongoing. Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO of UMass Memorial Health, said he expects more people to be vaccinated as suspensions and terminations loom closer, “I and a bunch of others are really worried about what this winter is going to look like.””
“These brave nurses, who were on the frontline and unvaccinated during the Covid outbreak, are going to be fired because they want medical freedom over their own body?” questioned Diehl. “Some of these healthcare workers have developed their own natural immunity, some may have concerns over the efficacy or safety of the vaccines, and some may have religious beliefs that conflict with what they are being forced to take. I would think that nurses, of all people, would know what’s best for their body and I find it incredible that the hospitals they serve would put them in this awful position.”
Nurse firings aren’t just in Massachusetts: “I’m willing to lose my safety, security, my house, everything for freedom,” a nurse working for Kaiser Permanente said, in a viral video. “I want you to think about that.” The nurse said she has been working since the beginning of COVID “when we didn’t know what was going on. “They’re firing nurses who are willing to work. Doesn’t make sense to me. So you have got to ask yourself that question: what kind of world are we living in when we have a pandemic,” she added.
Even worse, “It seems that a worker who violates their company’s vaccine policy may not be eligible for unemployment benefits,” states a Forbes article, entitled, “In A Dramatic Turn, The Once-Heralded Nurses And Healthcare Workers Are Being Fired For Not Getting Their Vaccination Shots.”
