'I stand by my words and I regret nothing': Walter Reed ER physician works his last shift after 'being fired' for tweeting Trump put Secret Service agents 'lives at risk' with motorcade while infected with COVID-19
The ER physician who was removed from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's schedule after he blasted President Trump for riding in his SUV alongside Secret Service agents while infected with COVID-19 has worked his last shift there.
Dr. James Phillips, who at the time was an attending physician at Walter Reed and is the chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University, tweeted over the weekend that he regrets nothing.
'Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER,' Phillips tweeted on Sunday.
'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.'
He concluded his message by writing: 'I stand by my words, and I regret nothing.'
On October 2, the president revealed that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Later that day he was moved to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethseda, Maryland, where he received an infusion of medicines, including an experimental antibody drug developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
'I'm honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities,' Phillips said. He concluded his message by writing: 'I stand by my words, and I regret nothing.'
On the second day of Trump's hospital stay in early October, he took a brief ride in his motorcade to wave to supporters who gathered outside Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The president, who was ill with COVID-19 at the time, rode in the enclosed vehicle with Secret Service agents
Two days later, while still hospitalized, Trump temporarily left the hospital in a motorcade to wave at supporters, a move criticized by some for putting Secret Service agents driving his vehicle at risk.
The president left his hospital room to thank cheering loyalists gathered outside the medical center.
The president was in a suit, but no protective equipment beyond his face mask.
In the front passenger seat was a person wearing a gown, face mask and face shield.
It was unclear whether the driver was similarly protected.
One of those who criticized the president was Phillips, who tweeted that day: 'Every single person...in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential 'drive-by' just now has to be quarantined for 14 days.
At the time, Phillips reacted with anger to the president's jaunt, calling it 'insanity'
'They might get sick. They may die. For political theater.
'Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater.
'This is insanity.'
Those tweets were later deleted.
Earlier this month, CBS News reported that Phillips was removed from Walter Reed's rota schedule effective this coming January.
A Walter Reed spokesperson denied the report, saying that the hospital '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.'
Phillips' contractor is GW Medical Faculty Associates.
Lisa Anderson, a spokesperson for George Washington University School of Medicine, told CBS News that Phillips remains on staff at GWU Hospital in downtown Washington, DC.
'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,' Anderson said.
Phillips was not the only medical professional to publicly condemn Trump for the brief excursion.
Phillips remains employed at George Washington University Hospital as the chief of disaster medicine
A second doctor, Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, echoed Phillips' condemnation.
'By taking a joy ride outside Walter Reed the president is placing his Secret Service detail at grave risk,' he said.
'In the hospital when we go into close contact with a COVID patient we dress in full PPE: Gown, gloves, N95, eye protection, hat. This is the height of irresponsibility.'
And Dr Craig Spencer, an ER doctor who survived Ebola and is currently director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University, was shocked at the president's 'joyride'.
'Moments after stating 'I learned a lot about COVID', the President takes a joyride in an enclosed space with presumably #COVID19 negative people, all while on experimental medications,' he said.
The White House said the president made a short trip and then returned to the presidential suite inside the hospital.
'President Trump took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave to his supporters outside and has now returned to the Presidential Suite inside Walter Reed,' White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
Trump supporters waved American flags and Make America Great Again campaign signs outside of Walter Reed hospital on October 4, the day of Trump's brief motorcade excursion
'Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the President and all those supporting it, including PPE. The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do.'
The White House press corps issued a statement, condemning the Trump administration for not keeping them informed of his whereabouts.
They had not been warned that the president was about to leave the hospital, breaking the usual protocol of keeping the pool reporters informed.
'It is outrageous for the president to have left the hospital — even briefly — amid a health crisis without a protective pool present to ensure that the American people know where their president is and how he is doing,' the White House Correspondents' Association said in a statement.
'Now more than ever, the American public deserves independent coverage of the president so they can be reliably informed about his health.'
The day after Trump's ride in the motorcade, he returned to the White House, spending a total of three nights at the hospital.
The president told Americans 'to get out there' and not fear COVID-19.
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