Indianapolis-based IU Health has placed workers who failed to meet the system's Sept. 1 deadline to get the COVID-19 vaccine on an unpaid two-week suspension, according to TV station WTHR.
The health system said fewer than 300 of its 36,000 employees have been suspended, and that number is expected to go down as workers update their records, according to the IndyStar. The employees will be allowed to return to work once they are fully or partially vaccinated. Those who do not get vaccinated are in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
"Vaccinating team members is a safe and effective way to protect patients and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in facilities and in the community," IU Health said in a statement to WTHR.
Most of the system's physicians, nurses and other clinicians have been vaccinated, IU Health told WTHR.
IU Health is one of many U.S. health systems mandating vaccines for workers.