A Texas ultrasound technologist is speaking out after she was recently fired for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
LaTricia Blank is among more than 150 employees with Houston Methodist who either resigned or were terminated after the system mandated receiving the drug. In an interview with CNN, the more than eight-year employee called her move a “very hard decision,” claiming the FDA’s emergency authorization was “rushed.”
“I don’t want to work for people like that. Don’t take away my choice,” she told the news outlet.
Houston Methodist was one of the first major healthcare systems to begin requiring vaccinations back on March 31. Blank and her the 152 outgoing workers represent a small fraction of the health systems’ workforce of more than 25,000.
Employees filed suit against Houston Methodist attempting to strike down the policy, but a judge recently sided with the provider. Read more from CNN below.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.