South Dakota’s largest health system has parted ways with Kelby Krabbenhoft, who had served as president and CEO of Sanford. Krabbenhoft wrote a letter to staff last week in which he questioned the use of masks.
“Masks have been a symbolic issue that frankly frustrates me,” he wrote. “The on-again, off-again behavior of mask use by the general population violates every notion of serious infection management that I was trained to adhere to, so some of this is absurd.”
Krabbenhoft wrote, according to media reports, that he had recovered from COVID, believes he is now immune to the virus and doesn’t want to wear 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,” Krabbenhoft indicated. “I have no interest in using masks as a symbolic gesture.”
Now, a few days later, he has reportedly been fired.
