A Black doctor has claimed that he was barred from working at the Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona after tweeting about the hospital's lack of beds during the pandemic. Shortly before Thanksgiving, Dr. Cleavon Gilman began tweeting about the facility's lack of hospital beds. His tweets came as little surprise to many as local outlets had previously reported about the state's lack beds and personnel to staff them.
“What happened to the 175 beds? We likely don’t have nursing to staff them,” Gilman tweeted.
"[There are] no ICU beds! When our rural Arizona hospital ICU is full, we medevac patients to different hospitals across the state, but not tonight. There were no accepting hospitals, so we managed ICU patients [for an entire 12-hour shift while treating other emergencies."
After tweeting, Gilman was able to finish his shift without incident. Since then, he has not been called in to the Yuma Regional Medical Center despite coronavirus outbreaks nationwide.
“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,” Gilman said.
“It is a grave injustice and it’s not just happening to me. Doctors everywhere are afraid to speak up.”
With dozens of medical professionals forced to sit on the sidelines as they recover from the virus, Gilman said that it was a "slap in the face" that he has been sidelined during a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
“The hospital is intentionally hurting me financially for speaking out, and I’m not permitted to work," Gilman said.
After news of Gilman's work status went viral, the hospital issued a statement. The Yuma Regional Medical Center claimed there was a "misunderstanding" regarding the matter.
Gilman is now scheduled to work this weekend.
“The death toll during the entire Iraq War was equivalent to what we see now every single day,” Gilman, an Iraq veteran, stated.
“You could leave a war zone if you couldn’t handle it. COVID is everywhere.”
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