With Covid cases declining and restrictions set to lift, unvaccinated St. Charles workers officially let go

(Update: Adding video, comments from St. Charles, former caregiver)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- About four months after the Covid-19 vaccine mandate took effect, unvaccinated workers at St. Charles, including registered nurse Saren Love, have officially been let go.

“We were granted the exemption but then their response was ‘you’re not safe to work here ever again’,” Love said Tuesday. 

Love has been out of work since Oct. 18, after St. Charles put more than 200 of its unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave. 

“It felt like a moral injury to most of us,” Love said. “We just felt like our identity had been challenged and questioned. We felt like we advocated and did the right things -- and we were still in this position of being a villain.”

Love, who was a St. Charles RN on the medical floor, had gotten Covid-19 before and had a religious objection to the vaccine testing process. After four months of unpaid leave, relying on financial support from her husband, she was officially let go on Feb. 16.

“We’ve been through recessions before, so we know how to tighten up for those times,” Love said. 

St. Charles confirmed to NewsChannel 21 on Tuesday that 87 of the 91 caregivers on unpaid leave were let go, with one person getting vaccinated and the other three leaving the job first.

With Covid cases declining and restrictions lifting, Love said she feels like she shouldn’t have needed to make this choice.

“It’s difficult that I’ve lost my job for something that at this point feels a little bit careless,” Love said. “People have moved on.”

Love recently found another job in the medical field.

She doesn't want to say the name of the company, but says they're providing accommodations for her exemption. 

St. Charles said in letters to the caregivers if circumstances change, Love and others would be eligible for rehire.

NewsChannel 21 asked Love if the vaccine mandate was lifted, would she go back? 

“I think that would be a difficult situation,” Love said. “There would have to be such a dramatic change, and I think unfortunately that’s not happening.”