A doctor who criticized President Donald Trump’s limo ride while he was hospitalized with coronavirus has worked his last shift at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being let go.
Dr. James Phillips said Sunday night on Twitter that he had finished his last shift working in the Emergency Room at Walter Reed.
“Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER,” Phillips said. “I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers – they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I’m honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities. I stand by my words, and I regret nothing.”
Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER. I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers – they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I’m honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities. I stand by my words, and I regret nothing.
— James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) December 28, 2020
Phillips, who works as the chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University and had a contract as an attending physician at Walter Reed, was let go from his position at Walter Reed three weeks ago. Phillips was removed from the schedule after he criticized Trump for riding in a limo with Secret Service agents to see his supporters while being treated at Walter Reed for coronavirus, CBS News reported.
“Every single person…in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential “drive-by” just now has to be quarantined for 14 days,” Phillips said on Twitter October 4. “They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.” (RELATED: Meadows Defends Trump’s Drive-By Greeting Of Supporters Outside Walter Reed)
The Tweet has since been deleted. Phillips was the only doctor at Walter Reed to publicly criticize Trump for the limo ride.
Officials from Walter Reed told CBS News that they did not make the decision to remove Phillips from the schedule.
Walter Reed “provides requirements for contract positions. Schedules are determined by the contractor. There was no decision made by anyone at WRNMMC to remove Dr. Phillips from the schedule,” the officials said.
The statement indicates that Phillips was removed by his contractor, GW Medical Faculty Associates, according to the report.
“While we cannot comment on the scheduling assignments of our providers, we can confirm that he continues to be employed at the GW Medical Faculty Associates,” Lisa Anderson, the Assistant Director of Media Relations at George Washington University School of Medicine, told CBS News.