Healthcare workers were praised as heroes during 2020.
They operated the frontlines during the COVID-19 outbreak and many acquired natural immunity by contracting the virus.
Fast forward to 2021 and healthcare workers across the country have become the unemployed.
Because a significant portion of medical professionals refuse the COVID-19 jab, they’re tossed aside like yesterday’s trash.
And the ones who praised them in 2020 now cheer for their firing in 2021.
Unfortunately, firing qualified healthcare workers is having disastrous results on hospital systems.
Staffing shortages have already impacted New York and shut down critical services.
This story comes from Maine, which currently has one of America’s largest COVID-19 outbreaks.
Circling back. Here are today’s case rates per 100,000 according to the CDC:
Vermont – 236
Maine – 209
Florida – 75— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) October 22, 2021
Maine has fully vaccinated 69.9% of its population (4th highest in America).
The state also has strict COVID-19 jab mandates for healthcare workers and fired unvaccinated employees.
Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 outbreak and staffing shortage has put tremendous pressure on the healthcare system.
One hospital had to shut down its ICU due to lack of employees.
— Amanda Hill (@amanduhill) October 12, 2021
https://twitter.com/Dian5/status/1448347225361375240
https://twitter.com/Jeff2020Lee/status/1451487685864984590
Flag & Cross reported:
The administrators of Central Maine Healthcare in Lewiston, Maine, enacted a vax policy demanding all employees to take the vaccine. But more than 250 employees refused to comply before the deadline. These employees were subsequently fired.
Unfortunately for patients, about 170 of those employees were needed to staff the intensive care unit. Consequently, the hospital had to shut down its ICU because of the firings.
Because it lost so many employees, the hospital plans on cutting intensive care beds by 50% and reducing the number of medical surgical beds by 40%, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Other healthcare companies in Maine have also quit their jobs.
MaineHealth said 69 staffers resigned, Central Maine Healthcare reported 70 resignations at the time and 500 open positions at the hospital, and another 89 staffers left at Northern Light Health over their refusal to take the vax.
Many have called for a repeal of the COVID-19 jab mandate in favor of a testing option for unvaccinated employees.
Bangor Daily News provided additional details:
The plan at Central Maine Medical Center is spurring local lawmakers to call on Mills to provide a testing opt-out to the mandate, something the Democratic governor has resisted so far. The hospital confirmed the worst-case scenario on Friday, saying 250 employees have no vaccination record with the hospital and 170 of them deal directly with patients.
The situation is one of the most dire outlined at a Maine hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also presents a dire situation in Androscoggin County, where 58 percent of the population has had its final COVID-19 dose, according to state data. The hospital is in Maine’s second-largest city and caters to most of the region.
“We continue to work very closely with our as yet unvaccinated team members by giving them all the information they need to make an affirmative decision to receive the vaccine,” said Ann Kim, a spokesperson for Central Maine Healthcare, the hospital’s parent.
Maine Senate Minority Leader Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, and Sen. Ned Claxton, D-Auburn, who were on a Friday call with hospital leaders, said members of the regional delegation are planning to petition Mills to consider a testing option for unvaccinated workers and to explore ways to provide aid to the hospital ahead of the deadline. They are also likely to ask Mills to consider deploying the Maine National Guard to bolster staffing.
There’s a simple solution to this self-imposed dilemma.
Don’t fire your qualified healthcare workers and let them make their own medical decisions.
Considering the COVID-19 jab doesn’t stop transmission, these mandates make zero sense and only put patients in harm.
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