From all accounts, this has been a particularly troublesome flu season. The debate lingers on whether to have the flu shot; not have the flu shot, and so it goes. For those of us who do not work in the health care profession, the decision on whether or not to get vaccinated for the flu rarely impacts our job security. Such was allegedly not the case for 61-year-old Ethel Hoover, who was a nurse at Indiana University (IU) Health Goshen Hospital for 22 years, until she was recently fired for refusing a flu shot. (See “Eight Hospital Employees Fired for Refusing Flu Vaccines” by Sydney Lupkin, ABC News, January 3; “Goshen Hospital Employees Fired After Refusing Mandatory Flu Shot” by Ryan Grenoble, The Huffington Post, January 7.)
According to a hospital press release, the Influenza Patient Safety Program began in 2011 and has become “a condition of employment with IU Health” starting with the 2012-13 flu season.
