State accuses unvaccinated nurses of incompetence, misconduct [View all]
SUNY hospitals disciplinary letters include incendiary language nurses fear could jeopardize their licenses
ALBANY The State University of New York has issued incendiary termination letters to nurses and other medical professionals charging them with misconduct, insubordination, dereliction of duties and incompetence after they declined to get vaccinated by the state's mandatory Sept. 27 deadline.
The vaccination mandate imposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration on health care workers led to thousands of workers, including doctors and nurses, facing termination at a time when hospitals have been cutting services, closing beds and, in some instances, diverting patients to other facilities.
For nurses and others employed by SUNY hospitals, the stronger wording of the two-page disciplinary letters they received contrasts with similar suspension and termination notices issued to nurses and other medical staff by private hospitals.
At Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital in Binghamton, for instance, nurses and other staff were issued suspension notices last week stating: "

S)ince our records show you are not compliant with New Yorks state mandate, you will be placed on suspension," adding, "continued failure to comply will be deemed voluntary resignation of employment."
Read more:
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/State-accuses-unvaccinated-nurses-of-16519465.php
(Albany Times Union)