Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital has started posting job openings to replace workers who will be terminated for being unvaccinated, The Aspen Times reported Oct. 11.
The hospital set a deadline of Oct. 31 for workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment unless they have a religious or medical exemption.
Hospital CEO David Ressler said 14 open positions are being posted to replace unvaccinated workers, and unvaccinated workers have been notified about the postings, according to The Aspen Times.
"They are a mix of full- and part-time and what we call PRN (on-call employees), … and the fact is every one of them is important to us, and they have been serving our organization and our community," Mr. Ressler said, according to the newspaper. "And it's very sad if that is the choice they make to not become vaccinated, and we'll have to replace their positions."
The hospital has one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines available, and workers can still comply with the deadline if they get that shot by Oct. 31, according to the report.
As of Oct. 11, Aspen Valley officials reported a 97 percent vaccination rate among employees.