NEW YORK — Northwell Health parted ways with 1,400 employees after they refused to comply with New York State’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, a spokesperson said Monday.
The workforce for the largest health care network in New York City was 100% vaccinated, as of Monday.
“This allows us to continue to provide exceptional care at all of our facilities, without interruption and remain open and fully operational,” the spokesperson said in a statement to PIX11. “Northwell has taken a rapid, aggressive approach to move successfully toward full vaccination compliance while maintaining continuity of care and ensuring that our high standard of patient safety is not compromised in any way. We thank the vast majority of our employees who did the right thing and got vaccinated.”
Health care workers statewide had until Sept. 27 to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or resign from their position without the ability to collect unemployment benefits.
The spokesperson said while they regret losing employees under such circumstances, having a vaccinated workforce was “an important measure in our duty to protect the health and safety of our staff, our patients and the communities we serve.”
