Northwell Health, New York”™s largest health care provider with 23 hospitals, nearly 800 outpatient facilities and a strong presence in Westchester County, including Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco and Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, has fired 1,400 employees who did not get vaccinated against Covid-19.
The firings were confirmed to the Business Journal shortly before 6 p.m. on Monday.
Northwell has a presence in Connecticut through the Western Connecticut Health Network.
“Regretfully we had to exit 1,400 employees but we are pleased to report that most team members have chosen to be vaccinated,” a spokesperson for Northwell told the Business Journal.
When questioned, the spokesperson said that if people who were fired do get vaccinated it is possible they could be reinstated. The spokesperson was unable to provide details as to where the fired employees had been working.
In a separate written statement, Northwell said that the firings now mean that its staff is 100% vaccinated.
“This allows us to continue to provide exceptional care at all of our facilities, without interruption and remain open and fully operational,” the Northwell representative said. “Northwell has taken a rapid, aggressive approach to move successfully toward full vaccination compliance while maintaining continuity of care and ensuring that our high standard of patient safety is not compromised in any way. We thank the vast majority of our employees who did the right thing and got vaccinated.
“Northwell believes that having a fully vaccinated workforce is an important measure in our duty to protect the health and safety of our staff, our patients and the communities we serve.
“Northwell regrets losing any employee under such circumstances, but as health care professionals and members of the largest health care provider in the state, we understand our unique responsibility to protect the health of our patients and each other. We owe it to our staff, our patients and the communities we serve to be 100 percent vaccinated against Covid-19.”
On Dec. 14, 2020, a Northwell nurse, Sandra Lindsay, became the first person in the United States to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after it had been approved for use under an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. Her vaccination followed a news conference that took place at Northwell’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
