GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — There are protests planned by area healthcare workers against vaccine mandates that have come down from a number of health systems, including Advocate Aurora and Prevea Health.
There are walkouts planned for later in the week across Northeast Wisconsin.
Jeanette Deschene works for Aurora and says she’s facing a choice: resign or get the vaccine.
“I know a lot of people say it’s your choice, just go get another job. But for a lot of us in health care we’re not there just because it’s a job. We can’t just get another job. We have to get another career, we have to get another passion,” said Deschene.
Deschene is a financial advocate and has been working from home during the pandemic. She says employees both vaccinated and unvaccinated are against a mandate.
“As health care professionals, we know the precautions we’ve survived this pandemic for a year and a half without a vaccine and we can continue doing that,” said Deschene.
Hospital employees against the vaccine mandate are planning a protest outside Aurora Medical Center in Manitowoc on Friday. Another one is expected to take place in Green Bay on Wednesday outside Saint Vincent and Bellin Health.
In response to anticipated protests, an Advocate Aurora Spokesperson said,
“We continue to believe that requiring vaccines for all our team members is the right thing to do to keep our patients, communities and each other safe and healthy. We have been alerted that protests are planned in some of our communities. We respect our team members’ rights to peaceful protest and at that same time our top priority is to provide high quality, safe care for our patients who depend on us.”
Prevea Health, also requiring the vaccine for employees, stands by its decision.
In a statement a spokesperson said,
“COVID-19 and its highly contagious variants continue to spread because there are still too many people eligible but choosing not to become vaccinated. At Prevea, we must take every step possible to protect our patients, staff and communities from this virus. We are grateful to the overwhelming majority of our staff who have already made the decision to become vaccinated for COVID-19, but this next step of mandating all become vaccinated is necessary for the health and safety of all. Prevea Health is following the lead of many other major health care systems across the country and the guidance of accredited health care organizations such as the American Medical Association and the Wisconsin Medical Society in mandating COVID-19 vaccination for all staff.”
Both employers have specific deadlines for employees to become fully vaccinated.
