Northwell Health, New York's biggest medical facility, dismissed 1,400 employees on Monday after they refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The sacked employees, like those at other healthcare firms that have lately fired staff members for failing to comply with vaccination regulations, make up a small proportion of Northwell's staff of more than 76,000 people, all of whom have been vaccinated.
A representative for Northwell Health said the facility now has more than 76,000 employees and is replacing the jobs left empty by workers who refused to comply with the statutory demand that all health professionals be immunized.
Up to this point, the number of workers who have quit their employment in New York has been minimal, and it does not appear that this will lead to the type of personnel shortages that may jeopardize patient care.
New York has mandated that all of the state's nearly 650,000 hospital and nursing care staff be vaccinated, a requirement that went into force last week and has prompted tens of thousands of employees to receive their vaccinations.
Others have filed cases, and judges throughout the state are debating when and how exemptions to the mandate should be granted.
Northwell issued its vaccination demand in August, weeks ahead of the state's deadline. Both clinical and non-clinical employees were covered by the company's mandate.
"Our aim was not to fire anybody," Kemp said in quotes by Reuters. "Our objective was to get as many individuals immunized as possible."
According to the most recent official data, 87% of the state's 450,000 healthcare staff had been vaccinated as of Monday.
Similar issues have arisen in other medical centers around the United States. A North Carolina hospital institution dismissed 175 unvaccinated employees last week for violating the state's vaccination requirement.
"Northwell Health is pleased to report that our whole workforce is fully vaccinated, making us the biggest in New York State," the hospital network disclosed in a statement.
"This allows us to continue to deliver outstanding treatment at all of our locations without interruption and to stay open and fully functioning," Northwell added.
Many medical employees, particularly those at big hospital systems like Northwell, appear to be complying with vaccination regulations, as the Biden administration has made vaccine requirement for many health care professionals a significant element of its campaign to keep the country safe.
