'Heartbroken' LI Nurse Let Go Due To Hospital Vaccine Mandate

WADING RIVER, NY — After the Monday deadline for New York health care workers to either be vaccinated or face termination, registered nurse Brittany Luberda, a mother with two young children, found herself without a job.

Sharing her story with Patch, Luberda said she had to follow her personal convictions despite the impact on her livelihood. Luberda, who lives in Wading River with her husband, Matt, and two children, Jaxson, 5, and Devyn, 2, worked as an RN at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson and Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, both Northwell Health facilities.

"My personal choice for not getting vaccinated is not just one reason — but a culmination of many factors," she said.

Not only did she refuse the vaccination due to her faith and religious beliefs, she said, but she also felt skepticism about a forced mandate "which is not law." And, she said, she firmly believes in the mantra "'My body, my choice.' There is not enough research to get vaccinated," Luberda said.

Luberda's stance is one leaders in the fight against COVID-19 have said could impede efforts to stem the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that COVID-19 vaccines were "developed using science that been around for decades", adding that the vaccinations are safe, "much safer than getting COVID-19. COVID 19-vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness from COVID-19 and limiting the spread of the virus that causes it."

Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines "under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history. CDC recommends you get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can," the CDC said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday that the clock was ticking for all health care workers to be vaccinated, a mandate announced in August by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Those who did not comply would lose their jobs, she said.

"My priority is to stop this virus dead in its tracks," she said. "The only way to do this is to ensure everyone is vaccinated but particularly people taking care of the sick."

Luberda initially turned to social media this week to share her emotions about the mandate: "I can’t act like today will be easy."

She added: "I have taken care of your babies coming out of the OR. I have held your confused elderly parents' hand because they were sundowning and reassured them I was there and they would be okay. I have managed your critical child’s vent and drips after a traumatic motorcycle accident. I have been scratched and pushed by your scared, disabled child and still told them I was there to help."

Luberda was devastated but felt she had to follow her beliefs. "My love for this career doesn’t end today just because I am being forced out," she said.

Northwell Health issued a statement Wednesday.

"Northwell Health is proud that our workforce — the largest in New York State — is near 100 percent vaccinated. This includes both our clinical and non-clinical team members as our policy’s scope goes beyond the guidelines of the state’s vaccine mandate," the statement read.

"Northwell has taken a rapid, aggressive approach to move successfully toward full vaccination compliance while maintaining continuity of care and ensuring that our high standard of patient safety is not compromised in any way. Regretfully, we have had to exit a few hundred employees, but we are pleased to report that most team members are opting to be vaccinated so as to avoid being terminated. Again, this process has had no impact on the quality of our patient care," the statement said.

Many health care workers have heeded the call to get vaccinated this week: According to The New York Times, many "holdouts" received shots under the wire.

When the deadline went into effect Monday, according to the report, 92 percent of the more than 650,000 hospital and nursing home workers in New York had received at least one vaccine dose, state officials said, up from 82 percent of nursing home workers and 84 percent of hospital workers last week.

But for Luberda, the impact was very personal. She ended her message on Facebook with the words, "a heartbroken nurse."

Being forced to leave her position was particularly difficult after the trying months of the pandemic, she said. "Working in healthcare in early 2020 was like nothing I have seen or heard before. My colleagues deserve all the thanks and praise for the hard work, dedication, and countless stressful hours they all put into helping and saving lives."

Luberda believes health care workers, including nurses like herself, should be afforded the same rights given to patients. "Their right to choose or not choose treatments is up to them, and we must educate them on their decisions — but ultimately respect their final say. I would never treat a patient of mine any differently for making a personal choice that best suits them and their families."

According to a report by the CDC released in August, unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19; an unvaccinated person is five times more likely to get COVID-19 than one who is vaccinated, the report added. A CDC study in September, as the delta variant became predominant, indicated that unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19, while those who are vaccinated are 10 times less likely to get so sick that they have to be hospitalized.

Losing her job will pose great challenges, Luberda said.

"Living on Long Island, most families have two incomes. We have become accustomed to our way of living," she said.

Luberda said she and her husband have even spoken about leaving New York. They've decided that, for now, they can survive with her job loss, at least temporarily. "I have no doubt that this unfortunate, wrongful termination will open up other opportunities," she said.

Others spoke out against the mandate this week.

Surrounded by people carrying signs that read, "I am informed. I do not consent" and "End Medical Tyranny," U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin held a rally Monday blasting a health care vaccination mandate that he said could lead to "chaos" — and calling on Hochul to revoke the measure.

Hochul said Monday that the mandate could cause "preventable" shortages.

Zeldin said the mandate would leave health care workers who stepped up during the pandemic without paychecks and ineligible for unemployment benefits.

In areas where health care workers chose not to be vaccinated, Hochul said she will be convening an operation center; she has asked hospitals where high numbers have been vaccinated to give the state the names of people who are willing to be deployed elsewhere to help mitigate staff shortages.

Hochul has also signed an executive order giving her the emergency powers necessary to address shortages where they occur and allowing her to deploy the National Guard who are medically trained. The order will also allow her to deploy people, who've either been retired or who may have had a licensed lapse, and finally, to bring in workers from elsewhere to help.

Luberda, meanwhile, worries about the future of health care, she said.

"For me, nursing isn't just a job and this isn't just a job loss. Nursing to me and to many others is a calling in life," she said. "And at this moment I feel wronged for doing what it is I felt was right in my heart."

Hochul has said this week that she will not rescind the mandate.

"This is about self-defense," Hochul said. "I'm here to defend the people of New York."