Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Northwell Health Lays Off 1,400 Employees Who Defied COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
By
Gwynne Hogan
Published Oct 4, 2021
Modified Oct 4, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Lev Radin via Shutterstock
By
Gwynne Hogan
Published Oct 4, 2021
Modified Oct 4, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New York State's largest private hospital system laid off 1,400 workers who wouldn't get vaccinated against COVID-19, a spokesperson for the health care network confirmed Monday afternoon.
Hospital and nursing home workers were required to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by September 27th, under a state mandate first announced in mid-August. Last week, Northwell said it started warning employees and planned to begin layoffs starting with the highest-paid workers who refused the shots. Now, the hospital's vaccination compliance rate is up to 100 percent for the roughly 75,000 staff that remain.
"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," said Jason Molinet, a Northwell Health spokesperson. "We owe it to our staff, our patients and the communities we serve to be 100 percent vaccinated against COVID-19."
The layoffs represent less than 2 percent of workers employed at the network's 23 hospitals and more than 800 outpatient clinics.
Elsewhere, an estimated 5,000 employees, or 12 percent, of New York City's public hospital system hadn't been vaccinated when the state mandate went into effect last week. Stephanie Guzman, a spokesperson for Health + Hospitals, said the agency was up to 93 percent compliance as of Monday, and that the remaining 3,000 holdouts were being put on unpaid leave.
As the health care mandate went into effect last week, hospitals andnursing homes saw their COVID-19 vaccination rates improve among staff, with 92 percent of workers receiving at least one dose as of last week, according to New York state officials.
Monday also ushered in the first set of classes following New York City's deadline for public school teachers to be vaccinated. That mandate survived a late legal challenge, which Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor swatted down Friday evening. An estimated 18,000 education staff rushed to get their shots over the past 10 days.
With options running short, protesters marched through city streets to decry the mandates once again.
Among them was John Matland, 36, an imaging technician at Northwell's Staten Island University Hospital who had led other protests against the vaccine mandates over the summer. Matland was fired on Friday for refusing vaccination.
"[It's] leading to a group of unemployed healthcare professionals, [who are] angry. They want to organize. They're looking to do civil disobedience to claim our freedoms back,” he said. "You’ve got a bunch of freedom worriers that are unemployed with nothing to lose."
This story was updated to include a comment from New York City Health + Hospitals and to clarify that 18,000 Department of Education employees were vaccinated over the past 10 days, not over the weekend.
Tagged
COVID-19
Northwell Health
vaccine hesitancy
new york city
vaccine mandate
new york
vaccine
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .