SCENARIO
You work at a dialysis center where people with impaired kidney function come to use a dialysis machine to clean their blood as would their kidneys if they were working properly. You are the Facility Administrator in a location of a small chain of dialysis centers founded and run by a group of doctors who treat kidney disease. You supervise a group of med techs who work with the patients to help them undergo dialysis. The center is located in a state that has mandated that all healthcare workers be vaccinated against Covid and that covers all of your med techs. All of them have produced CDC vaccination cards that show they are fully vaccinated.
One of your med techs in particular stands out. It is Rob Spears who just charms all the patients. Everyone who comes into the center seems to know him and he is particularly good with the older patients who make up the majority of the center’s customers. Rob has become very friendly with the center’s Medical Director who is one of the owners of the chain. Occasionally, they play golf.
One Saturday, while you are grocery shopping, you run into an old friend who used to be a med tech at the center. She mentions that she attended a party not long ago and saw Rob Spears. She was going to say hello but stopped to listen to the conversation he was having. She states that he was bragging about fooling his employer with a fake CDC vaccination card he bought off the internet. He noted that he would not be forced to be vaccinated by an employer.
You are a little overwhelmed by this information. Dialysis patients are particularly susceptible to Covid and you are very concerned that an unvaccinated med tech is working so closely with them. Even so, Rob is popular with the patients, is a great employee otherwise, and has a personal relationship with one of the owners. No one knows that you are aware of this possible problem. Should you choose to, you can keep silent, and it is unlikely that anyone will know. What do you think is the ethical thing to do in this situation and what would you choose to do regardless?
