Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, isolated at home because of a COVID-19 infection, offered his support Wednesday for Dr. Raul Pino, who was placed on administrative leave from his post as the state’s chief health officer in the county.
“Dr. Raul Pino has been our trusted partner and friend throughout the pandemic,” the mayor said in a statement emailed from his communications team. “His sound medical advice has helped guide me and countless other Orange County leaders to make the best decisions possible in dealing with COVID-19.”
“It is my fervent hope that Dr. Pino returns to work on behalf of the residents of Orange County soon,” Demings said.
Pino, 58, who has led the Health Department in Orange County since May 2019, is facing a state investigation related to a staff-wide email he sent Jan. 4. The email revealed that fewer than 14% of the 568 employees in the county Health Department had been fully vaccinated with a complete series and booster shot.
Pino declined to discuss the Health Department’s action, but an agency spokesperson confirmed his status.
“As the decision to get vaccinated is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers, the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Health is conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case,” spokesperson Weesam Khoury said in an email Tuesday. “The Department is committed to upholding all laws, including the ban on vaccine mandates for government employees and will take appropriate action once additional information is known.”
The state Health Department in Orange County is one of 67 separate public health agencies in Florida — one in each county.
During a special session in November, the Republican-dominated Florida legislature enacted a law banning coronavirus vaccine mandates, including for government employees, unless several exemptions were offered to employees. The legislation was signed into law Nov. 18 by DeSantis, whom Demings, a Democrat, has often criticized for impeding local governments from taking actions to limit the spread of the virus in their communities.
In the email to staff, Pino expressed frustration with the staff’s low vaccination rate amid an infection surge blamed on the omicron variant.
His email bore a subject line of “Concerned for us and our families!” He wrote:
“I have a hard time understanding how can we be in public health and not practice it! The reasons can be many, but so many of us?
“In order to have a better picture on how this current wave could affect us and the people we served, I ask our analyst to run vaccination data for our employee; shocker! The total number of active staff for FDOH Orange is 568. It appears that 77 employees (excluding contractors and interns) have received their booster dose of vaccine (SUPER LOW), and 219 employees have a complete vaccine series (not even 50%). 34 have only one dose of vaccine (missing second dose and booster).
“With those numbers we should expect many of us to get sick and be a vector between the workplace and our families, and to impact the clients we serve. To be precise, yesterday we have to cancel all prenatal appointments in a clinic because the lack of providers. I am sorry, but at this point, in the absence of reasonable and real reasons, it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300,000 (OCDOH) and we are not even at 50%, pathetic.”
State authorities were unclear whether Pino was placed on leave for urging employees to get vaccinated or compiling their vaccination status.
Other Central Florida figures have weighed in to defend Pino, a frequent contributor to Orange County’s COVID-19 briefings.
The Cuban-born health official answers questions in both English and Spanish posed by media outlets to help advise and educate viewers.
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said Pino was doing his job by encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, also an Orlando Democrat, was likewise incredulous in a Twitter post.
“So he got in trouble for asking his public health workers about public health?!!? WTF,” she tweeted.
Although state-run, the Florida Department of Health in Orange maintains “a very strong partnership with Orange County Government. DOH-Orange is responsible for protecting, promoting and improving the health of the county’s 1.2 million residents and over 59 million annual visitors,” according to a description of programs and services listed under Pino’s photograph on its website.
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
