Week 15 Newsletter

July 21st 2020 Updates

Surge Capacity Strategies
Issues meeting surge capacity are occurring in some areas of the country with the most COVID-19 infections.

There are calls to make workforce changes based on the important lessons learned from the pandemic so far.

Health Workforce Policies and Guidelines
Recent reports discuss the impact of the pandemic on recruitment and compensation for health care providers, particularly furloughed workers. 

Financial support for health care providers is an important discussion while Congress debates the next federal relief package.

Telehealth
Calls continue for maintaining the expansion of telehealth following the pandemic. Telehealth is proving to be popular among providers and consumers.

Long-term Care
Nursing home patients continue to make up a large portion of COVID-19 deaths, and questions are being raised about the testing strategies being used to keep workers and patients safe.

Health Workforce Safety
A review of the methods used by the nation’s largest public hospital system to protect its workforce from COVID-19 has been published, as well as research about the effectiveness of universal masking to protect employees.

The well-being of health workers continues to be an important aspect of maintaining safety in the workplace.

State Workforce Strategies
A recently released review discussed the role of state and local laws and regulations in the pandemic response for the nation’s largest public health system.