Methodist hospital has required its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine by June 7th 2021. It was the nation's first hospital system to require its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a disease that, as of June 2021, had caused more than 3.7 million deaths worldwide. As part of the mandate, the hospital system's 26,000 employees were required to get their first COVID-19 shot by June 7, 2021. This wasn't the first vaccine the hospital had mandated. The flu vaccine has been mandated for all Houston Methodist employees since 2009. Ultimately, 99% of employees complied with the hospital's COVID-19 mandate. Less than 0.6% of employees quit or were fired because they refused to get vaccinated, and a small number of employees were exempt or allowed to defer for medical reasons. Prior to taking action on the June 7 vaccination deadline, the hospital first suspended the 178 employees who were not yet vaccinated. During this two-week suspension, 25 more employees got vaccinated. Dr. Marc Boom, CEO of Houston Methodist, said as healthcare workers, we have "a sacred obligation to care for patients" and that mandating the vaccine was consistent with "our responsibility to keep patients safe". More recently, Dr. Boom has also said he has no regrets about his decision, adding that the mandate was "the best decision we ever made." The hospital's CEO credits it to keeping 300 employees from getting sick during the Delta surge over the 2021 summer, according to a hospital analysis. Of those who did get sick during the surge, Dr. Boom said that these employees reported less severe symptoms and, importantly, no employees died. There was pushback against the mandate, but it was small and short-lived. 117 employees challenged the vaccine requirement by suing the hospital, claiming the vaccine was “experimental”. Many such lawsuits were backed by prominent anti-vaxxers like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The group of medical workers staged a walk out on June 7th. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes dismissed the lawsuit on June 12, 2021, calling the plaintiff's allegations that the vaccine was experimental "false" and adding that the hospital's policy doesn't violate state or federal law and isn’t considered “coercion”. On June 22, 2021, 153 Houston Methodist employees either resigned or were terminated for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Hospitals across the nation have since followed Houston Methodist in requiring COVID-19 vaccination for employees, with about 41% of hospitals nationwide