Protestors line up in front of Northwell Health CEO’s home as vaccine mandates go into effect for NYS health care workers

A small group of protestors stood outside the Northport home of Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling this past Sunday and Monday, just days before vaccine mandates for New York State health care workers went into effect. As of 11:59pm last night, all health care workers must get vaccinated to remain employed, unless they received an approved exemption.

Signs held by the protestors included ones that read “Land of the free, no forced vaccine,” “To the lies we won’t comply,” and “This is not Nazi America. No forced vax.”

Just this morning, two men could be seen guarding Dowling’s driveway. At 10:25am, a Northport Village police officer made a visit to the property as well.

The vaccination mandate was put in place by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who said last week that she may declare a state of emergency in order to deploy the National Guard for potential staffing shortages at hospitals and other health care facilities.

Regarding the recent mandate, Northwell Health made the following statement: “Northwell Health today notified all unvaccinated team members that they are no longer in compliance with New York State’s mandate to vaccinate all health care workers by September 27.

We have begun a process to exit all unvaccinated team members using a carefully planned approach that both maintains continuity of care at all of our facilities and ensures the safety of all of our patients.

Northwell regrets losing any employee under such circumstances, but as health care professionals and members of the largest health care provider in the state, we understand our unique responsibility to protect the health of our patients and each other. We owe it to our staff, our patients and the communities we serve to be 100 percent vaccinated against COVID-19.”

New York is not the only state to mandate vaccines for health care workers. To date, Maine, Rhode Island, Oregon and the District of Columbia are enforcing the same requirement. Some states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California, are allowing for regular testing for unvaccinated employees.

State data shows that roughly 84% of New York’s hospital workers and 83% of the state’s nursing home employees have already received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. The remaining workers, which is estimated to be about 90,000 people, had until last night to get the shot or lose their jobs. Some facilities are allowing employees to take unpaid leave to consider their choice before losing their positions entirely.