An important aspect of any protest is to direct your grievances toward parties who can address them. In the case of S.C. State Rep. Ryan McCabe and the movement he has joined decrying Lexington Medical Center’s compliance with federal vaccine mandates, the protest was not directed toward the right people — namely, the federal government.

McCabe joins a seemingly growing group dissatisfied with the hospital system requiring its workers to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 5. This requirement is in accordance with a nationwide federal mandate for facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

On Nov. 20, McCabe led a protest outside the hospital’s main location off Highway 378 with more than 100 people in attendance, per the Chronicle’s reporting. This was a considerable spike from the roughly 20 people who showed up at a previous protest on Oct. 27.

McCabe also sent a letter to the hospital and the Chronicle, which lays out adjustments he wants made to its implementation of the mandate. These include providing greater clarity in the standards for religious and medical exemptions and considering input from a panel of independent religious leaders in judging requests.

Such demands are, to an extent, within the hospital’s power to grant. But Lexington Medical is a private entity, reckoning with its own budget. Regardless of the metrics by which it chooses to judge exemption requests, expecting the hospital to shoulder the expense of paying people who aren’t currently working, or even putting off hiring to replace those sitting out of work until the mandate is lifted, is asking it to lose money because of a decision made by the Biden administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, not Lexington Medical.

The letter also calls for Lexington Medical Center to “bring a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the implementation of the CMS regulation and request a temporary injunction pending a final ruling.”

Again, this is asking the hospital to shoulder responsibility for undoing a mandate virtually all hospitals across the nation are required to implement.

Lexington Medical says in the written response to McCabe’s letter it provided to the Chronicle that it believes in the safety and efficacy of the available COVID vaccines. It’s not the hospital’s job to help workers avoid getting a medication it sees as beneficial to the community.

“This is not Lexington Medical Center’s mandate,” reads part of the hospital’s response. “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.”

In other words, if people think the federal government is overstepping its authority by forcing hospitals like Lexington Medical to implement this mandate, they should take it up with the federal government.

Recently, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette spoke at a Lexington Chamber breakfast. She mentioned Gov. Henry McMaster’s participation with seven other governors in a lawsuit contesting another mandate requiring that workers at federal contractors get vaccinated, saying the governor was fighting the mandate “the way it needs to be fought, in the courts.”

McCabe should take this lesson to heart and take his fight directly to the people responsible for the mandate, not Lexington Medical Center. If he wants to file a lawsuit against the federal requirements, he should find a way to file it himself.

This article is the opinion of the Chronicle editorial board.