Yeah, and just to add some context for people who might not be familiar with US healthcare, what the VP is asking for is effectively impossible, so this is an order to work sick. The majority of Americans cannot just "go to the doctor" whenever they feel like it, especially 4 days before Christmas. The best most people could do in this situation is call a doctor's office and be told they can get an appointment in a couple months, or go to the emergency room if it's an emergency. So the choice here if you're sick is to waste emergency healthcare workers' time and probably pay extra for unnecessary emergency care, go to work sick, or get fired.
This is obviously intentional, and in many parts of the US totally legal. I don't know specific Colorado laws but there is no federal law against this.
Urgent care facilities typically have less than a 2 hour wait time in every place in the US I've been, and cost about $0-60 per visit depending on insurance.
Scheduling is not an issue, and there is no need to waste an ED's time on such things. Some urgent care spots specifically have a "doctors note" service.
It doesn't make the policy any better (I've worked such jobs), but I don't think there is a need to exaggerate how the process works in real life.
When I'm sick, but not dying, the last thing I want to do is haul myself out to an urgent care unnecessarily to spend money and time, and be in the presence of other sick people. This is detrimental to getting better as soon as possible. Thankfully my employer trusts me, and I don't have to go running to an urgent care every time I get a cold (which they can do nothing about anyway).
This is obviously intentional, and in many parts of the US totally legal. I don't know specific Colorado laws but there is no federal law against this.