State Rep. Ryan McCabe led a protest at Lexington Medical Center on Nov. 20.

A crowd of more than 100 joined the District 96 representative at the hospital on Highway 378, demonstrating for about an hour. They expressed their displeasure with Lexington Medical Center mandating that all employees take their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by Dec. 5 in compliance with a federal requirement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for workers at facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Attendees carried signs with messages like “Don’t Fire My Dad” and “Freedom Not Force.”

“Family members are reaching out to me in tears. This is heartbreaking. I have anguished over the calls and messages over the last two weeks,” McCabe told the Chronicle. “For well over a year and a half, these same employees have been valuable and loyal employees.”

McCabe also sent a formal letter to the hospital addressing his concerns last week, and posted pictures of it to social media.

“I understand the regulator dilemma LMC is facing from the unconstitutional and intrusive Biden mandate,” he writes. “However I feel that the LMC has a moral obligation to contest the Biden mandate and more importantly to offer exemptions to the fullest extent possible giving every benefit of the doubt to your hard working employees.”

McCabe’s district covers a portion of southern Lexington County that includes Pelion and Gaston.

The Chronicle received a statement from the hospital in response to McCabe’s letter.

“Lexington Medical Center never implemented its own COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” it reads. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ruled that all health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, or their health care facility will be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid programs.

“This is not Lexington Medical Center’s mandate. We have no choice — it’s the law. If we don’t comply with the mandate, we will no longer be able to provide care to Medicare or Medicaid patients. This would severely limit our ability to take care of our families, friends and neighbors.”

The hospital emphasizes that the hospital believes “the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and the best tool available to prevent the spread of the virus, protect families and keep our community moving forward.”

More than 87.7 percent of Lexington Medical’s 7,800 employees are vaccinated, the hospital reports.

“And we’re proud of that,” the hospital says.

Prisma Health, the Midlands other major hospital system, is also complying with the federal requirement.

McCabe’s letter asks for a list of modifications to Lexington medical’s implementation of its vaccine requirement:

- Publish clear guidelines and standards outlining ground for religious and medical exemptions for employees.

- Establish a panel of independent religious leaders selected with input from unvaccinated employees to consider exemption requests.

- Extend the religious exemption by at least 10 days after the publication of these standards.

- Bring a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the implementation of the CMS regulation and request a temporary injunction pending a final ruling.

- Provide for a medical exemption policy for those who have tested positive for antibodies from prior COVID-19 infections.

“Many Lexington Medical Center employees have natural immunity in that they were ‘vaccinated’ by contracting COVID-19 while working for Lexington Medical Center,” the representative said at the Nov. 20 protest.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released findings after surveying peer-reviewed and preprint publications and unpublished CDC data that vaccinations provide more consistent immunity than a previous infection with COVID-19 and that vaccines have considerable benefits for those who have already contracted the virus.

“Numerous immunologic studies and a growing number of epidemiologic studies have shown that vaccinating previously infected individuals significantly enhances their immune response and effectively reduces the risk of subsequent infection, including in the setting of increased circulation of more infectious variants,” the study says in its conclusions.

As to exemptions, Lexington Medical didn’ spell out how it will arbitrate requests.

“As with other required vaccinations, medical and religious exemptions will be considered,” the hospital’s statement says. “Lexington Medical Center employees have received information about how to apply for a medical or religious exemption at our hospital.”

For Paige Hungerford, who attended the protest, it’s about being able to make your own choice.

“We are all individuals of various ages with our own health issues and religious and moral beliefs,” she said. “There is not a cookiecutter, one-size-fits-all answer to overcoming COVID. Each of us has the right to determine the best course of action for ourselves and our families. Our government, our bosses and our neighbors do not have the right to make health decisions for us.”