Change will ensure ‘equitable outcomes for all,’ hospital CEO says Revelers gather to celebrate Juneteenth at Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
The largest hospital system in Georgia, Emory Healthcare, has scrapped Christmas Eve from its paid holiday calendar and added Juneteenth. Employees will now have to use paid time off to celebrate the December holiday.
The change, announced August 31, will also let employees earn extra holiday pay for working on Juneteenth—but not on Christmas Eve.
“We hope this will allow more opportunities for celebration, reflection, and education,” Emory Healthcare CEO Joon Sup Lee wrote in an email to employees. “[D]iversity, equity, and inclusion at Emory Healthcare (EHC) is about creating an environment of true belonging for our patients and team members, while ensuring equitable outcomes for all.”
The move came after Emory Healthcare solicited feedback on its holiday schedule, according to the email, which notes that patients can’t make clinical appointments on paid holidays. That policy appears to have fueled a zero-sum dynamic in which adding one holiday meant axing another.
“To minimize impact to patient care,” Lee said, “we will not be adding another paid