ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orange County’s “top doc” is back on the job after being suspended for chastising staff for not getting vaccinated.

A spokesperson for Florida Department of Health confirmed Friday the agency lifted its suspension of Dr. Raul Pino after an internal investigation. Pino is back to active duty as of Friday, but is not expected to be in the office until Tuesday. 

Pino serves as chief health officer for the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. Local leaders leaned heavily on him for information throughout the pandemic.

The Department of Health suspended Pino in January after he sent a mass email that chastised his agency staff for what he called the “pathetic” rate of employee vaccinations. 

In the Jan. 4 email, Pino said that only 77 of 568 employees had been fully vaccinated, including boosters — though, at least 219 employees had received two COVID-19 vaccine shots at that point.

Pino called the level of staff vaccinations “irresponsible” and “pathetic.”

After an employee complained to Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee, Pino was suspended and an internal investigation was opened.

“As the decision to get vaccinated is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers, the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Health is conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case,” Weesam Khoury, communications director for Florida Department of Health said in January. “The Department is committed to upholding all laws, including the ban on vaccine mandates for government employees, and will take appropriate action once additional information is known.”

On Friday, the Florida Department of Health released the following statement about Pino's return to work:

Following a full administrative review that addressed compliance issues with department policy, Dr. Pino has returned from administrative leave as of March 11, 2022. As a result of the administrative review, the Department established a corrective action plan to address these compliance issues. We will continue to work closely with Dr. Pino to ensure residents of Orange County are receiving the best health services from their county health department.