Akron Reporter

Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio is planning to dismiss its unvaccinated staff, a move gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci said is “idiotic.”

The hospital plans to let go of nurses and staff who have refused to follow the hospital system's COVID-19 vaccine mandate following the Jan. 11 deadline. Renacci said this type of action is a problem for Ohio.

“The idiotic decision by the administrators at Akron Children's Hospital to dismiss dozens of their front-line health care workers due to their vaccination status in the middle of a COVID surge is backward, counter-productive, and not based on science,” he said. “Alarmingly, stories like this are happening all over Ohio. Mike DeWine has no intention to protect these front-line workers who he pretends to support.”

A nighttime protest took place in response to the planned dismissals.

“These people have loved their jobs, they have loved Children’s Hospital,” Akron attorney Warner Mendenhall said to Fox 8. 

Ohio has been facing nursing and other medical professional staff shortages. Some hospitals rely on temporary staffing.

WKSU reports that Ohio's hospital staffing shortages have become so exacerbated that despite 2,300 Ohio National Guardsmen being deployed to hospitals across the state, many hospitals are resorting to hiring traveling nurses to fill staffing gaps.

“It can be pretty expensive for hospitals to bring in caregivers through these agencies,” Ohio Hospital Association spokesman John Palmer said to WKSU.

According to his campaign website, Jim Renacci is a supporter of ballot initiative HB 248, which would shield Ohioans from vaccine mandates.

Renacci is a businessman and former U.S. representative for the 16th congressional district running against DeWine, a fellow Republican, in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary on May 3.