Some employees at IU Health have left the Indianapolis-based organization after choosing not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which had been mandated by the health system.
After a two-week unpaid suspension period ending Sept. 14, 125 of its 36,000 employees, the equivalent of 61 full-time employees, have left, the system told Becker's. The system's deadline to get the COVID-19 vaccine was Sept. 1, and workers who failed to meet that deadline were suspended. Employees were allowed to return to work once they had received at least one vaccine dose. Those who remained unvaccinated faced losing their jobs.
"Indiana University Health has put the safety and well-being of patients and team members first by requiring employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 1," the system said.
IU Health told Newsweek most system workers who refused to receive the vaccine were part-time workers, worked less than part time or have not worked in months "and will have a minimal effect on staffing. IU Health has been working for several months to hire for positions in areas where team members have shown noncompliance."
IU Health is among multiple U.S. health systems that have seen workers leave because of vaccination mandates.