RWJBarnabas Health has fired six workers for not complying with the West Orange, N.J.-based health system's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Six staff at the supervisor level and above have not complied with the mandate and are no longer employees of the health system, per its policy, a statement shared with Becker's July 20 said.
In May, RWJBarnabas Health announced its policy requiring supervisors and above to be vaccinated for COVID-19, with plans to eventually extend the mandate to all employees. Supervisors and above were required to be vaccinated no later than June 30.
As of July 14, 2,979 staff members, or 99.7 percent, at the supervisor level and above were fully vaccinated or had received medical and religious exemptions or a deferral, the health system reported.
"At RWJBarnabas Health we have an ethical and professional responsibility to protect our patients and ensure a safe, COVID-19 free environment," the health system said. "We shall be mandating vaccination for all staff and physicians and will be announcing our plans in the coming days."
RWJBarnabas Health, which has more than 35,000 employees, is not the first health system to fire workers over vaccine mandates. At Houston Methodist, 153 employees resigned during a two-week suspension period or were terminated June 22 for not complying with the health system's mandate. Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina Health has also fired five of its employees for noncompliance.