ER doctor and Iraq War veteran who moved from New York to help with surge of COVID-19 cases at Arizona hospital says he was fired after he tweeted about the severity of the pandemic
Dr Cleavon Gilman moved his family from New York to Yuma, Arizona, in June to help with a surge of coronavirus case in the southwest
An emergency room physician says he has been fired from his hospital for speaking out about the seriousness of the novel coronavirus in Arizona on social media.
Dr Cleavon Gilman, who was working in New York on the frontlines early on in the pandemic, moved his family to Yuma, near the US-Mexico border, as hospitals began filling up during the summer.
In late November, he went in for a shift at Yuma Regional Medical Center and was told that even though the intensive care was at capacity, patients could not be transferred to other hospitals because none were accepting.
Gilman says that after he posted a series of tweets about it, the health care staffing company he works for told him to not return to work, reported the Arizona Republic.
Yuma Regional Medical Center recently sent out a statement saying Gilman's firing had been a mistake to which he replied: 'News to me.'
Gilman served as a hospital corpsman in the US Marines during the Iraq War before becoming chief resident of emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
He began documenting how his hospital was dealing with coronavirus in March.
However, he gained notoriety in May when he tweeted a video of a packed Sheep Meadow in New York City's Central Park.
'Sixteen-thousand New Yorkers dead in eight weeks!' Gilman wrote.
'This is a SLAP in the face to healthcare providers nationwide risking their lives and dying on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. I'm in Central Park right now and it's business as usual.'
In June, around the time that cases were beginning to explode in Arizona, Gilman moved his fiancé and two kids from New York to Yuma, about 180 miles from Phoenix.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Prior to the pandemic, Gilman was a hospital corpsman in the US Marines during the Iraq War and a chief resident of emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Gilman began working at a rural hospital, Yuma Regional Medical Center, in a county with the worst rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 in Arizona. Pictured: Gilman and a colleague at a hospital in New York
Yuma County currently had the highest rate of cases in the state at 9,347 per 100,000 people, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
He told the Republic he wanted to 'serve the small community during the pandemic.'
On November 22, he went into work at the rural hospital and quickly learned the intensive are unit was completely full.
However, none of the patients were able to be transferred because no other hospitals were accepting, despite the Arizona Department of Health reporting 175 available ICU beds in the state.
Gilman took to social media to report the situation.
On November 22, he tweeted that the ICU at his hospital, Yuma Regional Medical Center was full, but no patients could be transferred
'When our rural Arizona hospital ICU is full, we medevac patients to different hospitals across the state, BUT NOT TONIGHT, because there were NO ACCEPTING HOSPITALS,' he tweeted.
'Where are these 175 available ICU beds in Arizona, b/c for a rural hospital not to find accepting hospitals is problematic.'
His Twitter thread received more than 81,000 likes and 30,000 retweets.
The next day, November 23, Gilman had only just arrived at the hospital when the healthcare staffing company he works for, Envision Healthcare, called him.
A staff member told him Yuma Regional Medical Center did not want him to returning to work, the Republic reported.
'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 told the newspaper.
'It is a grave injustice and it's not just happening to me. Doctors everywhere are afraid to speak up.'
Not long after, on December 5, President-elect Joe Biden called Gilman to thank him for his service.
Gilman said he eceived a call from the hospital staffing company he works for saying the medical center did not want him to return to work
After receiving national attention, Yuma Regional tweeted that there has been a 'misunderstanding' and that Gilman is scheduled to work this weekend
In a video of the call, Biden is heard telling him: 'I promise you, doc, you are going to have a full-blown partner. You have my word as a Biden.'
Nearly one week later, on Friday, Yuma Regional Medical Center tweeted that there had been a 'misunderstanding' and that he is scheduled to work this weekend.
'While he is not speaking on behalf of YRMC, we respect Dr Gilman's right to share his personal perspective on the pandemic,' the statement read.
'We need good caregivers like Dr Gilman here, serving patients at the beside and providing the best care possible.'
Gilman implied that he learned about the news via social media, sending out a reply that read: 'Oh really...this is news to me.'
It remains unclear whether or not Gilman will be working at the hospital over the weekend.
'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 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.'