GEAUGA—Tom Quade, the former Marion Health Commissioner, was terminated earlier this week from his position as Health Commissioner for Geauga County.
Quade served in Marion from 2013-2018. He did not renew his contract so he could take the position in Geauga County to be closer to his home and spend more time with his family.
Upon his departure, the consensus was that he had left Marion Health Department in better circumstances than when he began duties.
In recent weeks Quade apologized for remarks he made on Social media. Admitting that his posts had drawn negative attention, Quade took ownership of his actions and vowed to be better.
The Geauga County health commissioner was fired, effective immediately, on Wednesday night by the county Board of Health, which voted unanimously to terminate. The vote came after a crowded room of citizens spoke against the health chief’s actions.
Recently Quade posted to his personal Facebook profile: “Here’s an incentive idea for encouraging vaccination. If you get vaccinated and get COVID, you pay nothing for your treatment medical costs. If you’re not vaccinated (or don’t have a medical contraindication for getting vaccinated), your insurance pays NOTHING for your medical treatment. It’s a natural consequence of your decisions.”
The post fell under heavy criticism. One critic, Ohio State Senator Andrew Brenner (R-19), stated that Quade “should be fired.” Quade deleted the post.
However, other posts remained, including a repost of a cartoon showing a teacher in front of a classroom with a sign taped to the door that read “NO MASK MANDATES – YOUR MAGA GOVERNOR” with the teacher saying, “Class, today we’ll study people so callous that they sacrificed children to appease their God.”
Another showed a book emblazoned with a faux title, “FREEDOM: How you can reject modern medicine and die like a medieval peasant. By Rand Paul.”
The Ohio Press Network (OPN) reached out to Quade for comment at that time after receiving information regarding the then commissioner’s posts and previous alleged actions regarding how he handled quarantine efforts in Geauga County. Quade did not respond.
Instead, he took to Facebook, calling his previous posts “ironical,” and posting:
“So, this happened…I posted an ironic post about how one might incentivize vaccinations on my personal, Facebook page and some who don’t know me from Adam decided to assign their own assumptions about me and then share it with others. To be clear, and I know that all of you who actually know me already know, I am a strong proponent of universal healthcare. That means everyone and for every health issue. It is absurd that I would promote anything to the contrary. Such is a shortcoming of social media and the world full of people who believe they know everything. Clearly, to any who would bother to read our agency’s FB page, we are simply encouraging all who are still on the fence about getting vaccinated to speak with their healthcare provider in order to make a well-informed decision. Oy, people. Please take the time to truly understand what is going on before you go off.” Quade said.
However, the Geauga Public Health page had been used by Quade to express his personal opinion and anecdotes to influence compliance with COVID-19 rules and orders.
Crawford County Now made unsuccessful attempts to reach Quade for a comment.