| | | 'A slap in the face': Yuma hospital fires ER doctor for talking about COVID-19 in Arizona
Jamie Landers
Arizona Republic
Updated 7:10 P.M. December 10, 2020
Dr. Cleavon Gilman, a well-known emergency-medicine physician, has been asked not to return to his work at Yuma Regional Medical Center for his social media posts about the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona, according to him and his staffing agency.
"What I don't understand about this is I have been advocating for Arizona; I have been calling for a mask mandate, the closure of schools and indoor dining," Gilman told The Arizona Republic. "I did all of this because we are seeing an unprecedented number of cases. This is my third surge — I know how this ends."
Gilman, who moved his fiancé and two kids from New York to work in Yuma and "serve the small community during the pandemic," has not been to work since Nov. 23.
It started on Nov. 22 when Gilman tweeted "Just got to work and was notified there are no more ICU beds in the state of Arizona." His tweet received more than 81,000 likes and 30,000 retweets. Gilman said he finished his shift that day "without a problem."
The next morning, Nov. 23, Gilman had just arrived at the hospital when he received a call from the healthcare staffing company he works for, Envision Healthcare. Envision told him the hospital did not want him to come back to work.
"They told me it was because of the tweets and I couldn't believe it because that was accurate information I posted to inform the citizens of Arizona," he said. "It is a grave injustice and it's not just happening to me. Doctors everywhere are afraid to speak up."
Gilman was scheduled the following three days but the "hospital did not permit" him to come in, he said. The CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center, Dr. Robert Trenschel, has not directly spoken to him about the matter, according to Gilman.
As of Thursday evening, the hospital did not return The Republic's request for comment.
"I don't even know the CEO," he said. "All I know is this hospital is trying to crush my voice, they want to silence me and they want to financially hurt me. This is all so wrong."
In a time where Gilman said hundreds of thousands of his colleagues are forced to leave the frontlines due to burnout and rising infection rates among healthcare workers, it is a "slap in the face" to sit on the sidelines for "no reason." But regardless of whether or not he holds a position at the hospital, Gilman said he isn't going to be quiet on social media anytime soon.
Gilman outspoken about COVID-19 response in ArizonaGilman served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Marines during the Iraq War well before he became the chief resident of emergency medicine at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital during the beginning of the pandemic, a moment in history he said was "worse than war by a long shot."
"The death toll during the entire Iraq War was equivalent to what we see now every single day," he said. "You could leave a warzone if you couldn't handle it. COVID is everywhere."
Starting March 20, Gilman began documenting "what was happening on the frontlines" in his online journal, "#CleavonMDjournal."
His first post: "Tough night last night. Intubated a young woman with a history of smoking who decompensated very fast. There are so many COVID cases in New York City."
His posts about COVID-19 drew wide attention thanks in part to their insight into a hot spot in the early days of the pandemic. Approximately 203,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported in New York City during the first three months of the pandemic.
In the spring and summer he talked with Men's Health and Insider, but his prominence skyrocketed with the tweet about ICU beds in Yuma.
Since that initial tweet, dozens of his threads have gone viral. Gilman has used his platform to speak out about pay cuts for healthcare workers, COVID-19 deaths among children and the "lack of action" from President Donald Trump. The posts have been retweeted by celebrities such as John Legend and politicians such as Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. On Nov. 25, he was featured in The New York Times for an article about "covid combat fatigue."
"I truly believe I have a moral obligation to Arizonans to be honest with them," Gilman said. "I can't be quiet while more than 2,000 people are dying everyday. What kind of doctor would I be? What kind of public servant would I be? I can't live with the silence they are asking from me."
On Dec. 5, President-elect Joe Biden called Gilman to thank him for his advocacy and his service. In a video of the call on the Biden-Harris Transitional Team's Twitter, Biden said "I promise you, doc, you are going to have a full-blown partner. You have my word as a Biden."
In his reply, Gilman tweeted that the call "lifted his spirits."
'Envision has backed me 100%'In a statement sent to The Arizona Republic, an Envision Healthcare spokesperson said Envision "fully supports" Gilman and said the loss of his position during an ongoing pandemic would be "unfortunate."
"As a physician on the frontlines, he has continuously advocated for his patients and the health and safety of the Yuma community – a traditionally medically underserved community," the statement said. "We recognize Dr. Gilman’s depth of experience, perspectives and voice he lends to those who might not have one due to the inequities in the complex U.S. healthcare system."
The statement concluded by saying Envision has teams based in communities across the country and each would be "fortunate to have a skilled and dedicated physician like Dr. Gilman by their side."
However, Gilman said he does not believe he should have to leave Yuma at all.
"The people of Yuma deserve an honest doctor who gives them the truth, who cares about them and who advocates for them," Gilman said. "They have trusted me and I am not leaving them without a fight."
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