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link to www.woodtv.com]
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Helen DeVos Children's Hospital employee could lose her job after refusing to get a seasonal flu shot.
As part of a new policy at Spectrum Health, all full- and part-time employees are required to receive the flu vaccine. It's all about protecting patient safety, a hospital system spokesman said, and giving the health system's staff group immunity so they don't spread the flu.
But respiratory therapist Rachel Denherder doesn't want to get the vaccine. As a Christian, she says she believes God created humans and their immune systems, and she doesn't believe in putting vaccines into her body.
"I feel (that) yes, that is their policy, but I feel like I was being discriminated against because in their discrimination code, they stated terms of employment wouldn't be based on religious beliefs as well as, you know, sex and all that," she said.
This is a condition of employment, a Spectrum Health spokesman said. If employees have issues with the policy, they are supposed to contact the human resources department.
If the issue isn't resolved, termination is possible, he said.
24 Hour News 8 will have more information involving the legal issues in this situation as soon as possible.
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