Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina Health has fired five of its employees for not complying with the health system's COVID-19 vaccine mandate or obtaining an exemption, a spokesperson told Becker's July 12.
MUSC Health began mandating COVID-19 vaccination for leaders and new hires on April 15, with April 30 as the compliance deadline.. Ninety-seven percent of that group received vaccines, and 3 percent obtained medical or religious exemptions. The mandate was eventually extended to all the health system's employees, about 17,000, with a final deadline of June 30 for compliance with either vaccination or exemption.
As of June 25, about 2,000 exemptions were obtained, and 24 employees were not compliant or did not have a waiver.
As of July 1, five employees were not compliant or did not have a waiver, and they were separated from the organization, said spokesperson Heather Woolwine.
MUSC Health is not the only health system where employees have been fired for lack of compliance with a vaccine mandate. At Houston Methodist, 153 employees out of 26,000 either resigned during a two-week suspension period or were terminated June 22 for not complying with the health system's mandate.
Read more about other health system mandates here.