TMH terminates employees who've not met vaccine mandate; HCA won't say if 3% are still employed

As a court-upheld vaccine mandate takes hold at local hospitals, some local healthcare workers are now looking for new jobs.

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, which employs about 5,500 workers, has fired 10 employees for not meeting the requirement to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Feb. 26, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Three percent of employees have not met the requirement or applied for a medical or religious exemption at HCA Florida Capital Hospital — which was previously Capital Regional Medical Center — said spokesperson Rachel Stiles in a statement. 

"Compliance with the various CMS deadlines and state requirements are priority while we continue to enforce safety protocols and focus on meeting the healthcare needs of our community," read the statement from Stiles.

HCA officials did not answer specific questions about whether the employees were terminated.

Previous coverage:All Tallahassee Memorial and Capital Regional workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4

Both healthcare facilities are two of an estimated 76,000 health care facilities — covering some 17 million workers — that were forced to require employees to finish their vaccine, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) emergency regulation.

If a hospital rejects the mandate and chooses not to require vaccinations, it risks losing Medicare and Medicaid funding. 

Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.