Some Kentucky hospitals have begun firing staff who refused a COVID vaccine. Others aren't.

[TexasTowelie]

While a deluge of COVID-19 patients continues to burden Kentucky’s short-staffed health care system, hundreds of hospital workers across the state have refused to comply with their workplace vaccine requirement, and some are being fired.

Roughly a dozen hospitals and hospital systems announced last month, buoyed by unanimous support from state and federal health care associations, that they would amend their policies and add COVID-19 vaccines to the list of already-required inoculations staff must have in order to care for patients. Participating hospitals include:

UK HealthCare
Appalachian Regional Healthcare
CHI Saint Joseph Health
Baptist Health
Pikeville Medical Center
St. Claire Healthcare
Med Center Health
UofL Health
Norton Healthcare
King’s Daughters Health System
Mercy Health — Lourdes Hospital
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
Deaconess

Though the vaccine mandate announcement was made in a unified voice alongside Gov. Andy Beshear, each hospitals’ enforcement of the requirement varies. The Herald-Leader surveyed each hospital, and though it was couched as a requirement, only some have made it a condition of employment.

The initially agreed-upon deadline for many was September 15, but some have extended it and few have yet to disclose what percentage of their staff fulfilled the requirement, or what will happen to staff who didn’t. Some have confirmed they will offer weekly testing as an alternative, while others are moving more swiftly to write-ups and, in some cases, immediate firings.

Read more: https://www.kentucky.com/news/coronavirus/article254283883.html