A surgeon at Lake Region Healthcare in Fergus Falls, Minnesota was fired after speaking against mask mandates at a recent school board meeting.
Dr. Jeffrey Horak, the hospital’s general surgeon of 16 years, was fired less than two weeks after saying that parent’s should be able to make decisions about masks for their children.
“We live in America where freedoms are held close,” Horak told the Wahpeton Daily News. “I am a man who believes individuals have the right to do their research and decide what is best for them and their children when it comes to their health. I don’t believe governments or institutions should dictate that. It’s a position I’ve always have taken. And when the science doesn’t make sense to me it’s hard for me to go along.”
Wahpeton Daily News also obtained the following statement from Kent Mattson, chief executive officer of LRH, regarding the matter: “Lake Region Medical Group (LRMG, the provider group that employed Horak) provided notice to Lake Region Healthcare (LRH) that Dr. Jeff Horak will no longer be available for general surgery services at LRH after Oct. 20, 2021.”
“We sincerely appreciate Dr. Horak’s 16 years of service to our patients and our organizations and we wish him the best as he transitions his practice from here,” Mattson stated, sharing that LRH is working with LRMG to ensure continued access to general surgery services through the organization’s complement of talented and dedicated general surgeons who will “ensure we have surgical coverage in place to provide uninterrupted service for all patient needs.”
In response to his firing, members of the community gathered at the hospital on Monday and sang “God Bless America” and chanted things like “fight for freedom.”
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