Sanford Health CEO: I got COVID-19, so I don't have to wear a mask as a 'symbolic gesture'
Kelby Krabbenhoft, president and CEO of South Dakota-based Sanford Health, laid out his thoughts about having COVID-19, and why he wouldn't be wearing a mask, in an email sent to health system employees late Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 18, one obtained from multiple sources by Forum News Service.
Krabbenhoft said he is still experiencing "lagging coughs and fatigue," but told employees he was back in the office -- without a mask.
"For me to wear a mask defies the efficacy and purpose of a mask and sends an untruthful message that I am susceptible to infection or could transmit it," he said. "I have no interest in using masks as a symbolic gesture when I consider that my actions in support of our family leave zero doubt as to my support of all 50,000 of you. My team and I have a duty to express the truth and facts and reality and not feed the opposite.”
Krabbenhoft, who is not a doctor, based his decision not to wear a mask on his view that he's developed an immunity to COVID-19.
"The information, science, truth, advice and growing evidence is that I am immune for at least seven months and perhaps for years to come, similar to that of chicken pox, measles, etc.," he wrote, without specifying sources for his claim.
"Masks have been a symbolic issue that frankly frustrates me," he writes, arguing the "on-again,off-again" use of masks is absurd.
Kelby Krabbenhoft, president and CEO of South Dakota-based Sanford Health, laid out his thoughts about having COVID-19, and why he wouldn't be wearing a mask, in an email sent to health system employees late Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 18, one obtained from multiple sources by Forum News Service.
Krabbenhoft said he is still experiencing "lagging coughs and fatigue," but told employees he was back in the office -- without a mask.
"For me to wear a mask defies the efficacy and purpose of a mask and sends an untruthful message that I am susceptible to infection or could transmit it," he said. "I have no interest in using masks as a symbolic gesture when I consider that my actions in support of our family leave zero doubt as to my support of all 50,000 of you. My team and I have a duty to express the truth and facts and reality and not feed the opposite.”
Krabbenhoft, who is not a doctor, based his decision not to wear a mask on his view that he's developed an immunity to COVID-19.
"The information, science, truth, advice and growing evidence is that I am immune for at least seven months and perhaps for years to come, similar to that of chicken pox, measles, etc.," he wrote, without specifying sources for his claim.
"Masks have been a symbolic issue that frankly frustrates me," he writes, arguing the "on-again,off-again" use of masks is absurd.