They Thought Firing Me Would Silence Me.

Sharisse Stephenson
Oct 15
2 min read

It only made me louder.

🔊 From Good Intentions to Retaliation

Explore the sidebar on the left. You can add media to add color to your post. You can also I went to Bon Secours with good intentions — to build access to neurological care for a community that desperately needed it.

Portsmouth, Virginia, ranks among the lowest in the nation for health outcomes. The need for specialized neurological care was urgent — and I came ready to serve.

But when I raised safety concerns and asked for a safe workplace, I was met with retaliation instead of accountability.

What should have been a partnership in healing turned into a campaign of silencing.

💥 The Cost of Retaliation in Healthcare

When physicians are punished for speaking up, patients pay the price.

Retaliation doesn’t just remove a doctor from a job — it erases access to care for entire communities. It discourages honesty, rewards compliance, and destroys trust in a system that desperately needs it.

This isn’t just about one physician’s story.

It’s about a broken pattern inside healthcare that puts profit and reputation over people and safety.

✍🏽 Losing a Job Freed My Voice

When I was fired, I thought my story was over.

Instead, I found my voice.

Today, I write and speak openly because retaliation against physicians doesn’t just harm providers — it limits patient access, silences reformers, and deters future whistleblowers from stepping forward.

My new Medium piece shares why losing a job didn’t end my voice — it freed it.