UCHealth's vaccine mandate leads to staff firings
Fired Colorado staff members will be allowed to reapply once they are vaccinated
More than 100 employees were fired from a nonprofit health care system based in Colorado after refusing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Per the UCHealth vaccination mandate, employees across the state were required to get inoculated by Oct. 1, unless they were given a religious or medical exemption. The health care system is comprised of 12 hospitals and hundreds of medical clinics in the Rocky Mountain region.
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Overall, about 119 employees, or less than 0.5% of UCHealth's 26,500 staff members statewide, did not receive one of the three available vaccines, UCHealth spokesperson Dan Weaver told FOX Business.
"No hospital wants to lose valued employees, but we know vaccines save lives and increase safety for everyone," Weaver said.
He noted that the vaccination requirement has already helped improve staffing despite losing dozens of employees.
Millions of federal contractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8. (GRANT HINDSLEY/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"With broad vaccination rates, fewer employees are testing positive for COVID-19 and needing to be out of work while they recover," he said.
However, UCHealth is allowing terminated employees to reapply for their positions once they get fully vaccinated.
NEW YORK'S LARGEST PRIVATE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FIRED 1,400 EMPLOYEES WHO REFUSED THE VACCINE
UCHealth isn't the only health care system that has let go of a swath of employees in recent weeks.
New York's largest private health care provider confirmed to Fox News this week that it fired some 1,400 employees who refused to get vaccinated.
A spokesperson for Northwell Health said it "had to exit" 1,400 staff members but noted that most of its members chose to get vaccinated. With the ouster, though, Northwell’s employees are now 100% vaccinated.
Last month, Delaware-based private not-for-profit regional health care system, ChristianaCare, said the hospital had let go of more than 100 employees who chose not to get vaccinated by the Sept. 21 deadline.
"As we anticipated, a small number of caregivers chose not to be vaccinated and have left the organization," ChristianaCare CEO Dr. Janice Nevin said in a blog post.
Because of the policy, Nevin noted that the health care system terminated 150 employees or "the equivalent of fewer than 90 full-time employees."
ChristianaCare's extensive network includes outpatient services, urgent care centers, three hospitals and a free-standing emergency department.
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Likewise, Novant Health, a North Carolina-based hospital system, said more than 175 of its workers have been fired for failing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
At the end of September, Novant Health announced 375 employees had been suspended and given five days to comply with the mandate. Nearly 200 of those employees came into compliance, spokesperson Megan Rivers said. Rivers didn’t provide specific numbers on how many out of the 375 were in compliance and how many lost their jobs.
More than 99% of Novant Health’s 35,000-plus employees are now compliant with the vaccine mandate, including employees who have submitted an approved religious or medical vaccine exemption, according to a statement.
The Winston-Salem-based system includes 15 hospitals, 800 clinics and hundreds of outpatient facilities.
Fox News' Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.