Week 41 Newsletter
01/12-01/19 Updates
Surge Capacity Issues
Southern California is still experiencing crisis-levels of COVID-19 cases, with emergency departments full and the National Guard called in to help with the removal of the deceased.
Surge Capacity Issues
(01/15/21) In LA, Ambulances Circle for Hours and ICUs Are Full. Is This What COVID-19 Has in Store for the Rest of the Country?
This article featured in STAT discusses the current capacity issues experienced in Los Angeles, California. Southern California continues to be a region experiencing crisis with emergency rooms over capacity, nurses working over mandated patient limits, and the National Guard called in to help assist with removing the bodies of the deceased.
Health Workforce Safety
Dentists in some states are lower on the priority list to receive COVID-19 vaccination than other health professionals, despite their high risk of infection.
Therapists from multiple volunteer organizations are donating time to help distressed health care workers deal with pandemic-related trauma.
Young, healthy graduate students and health care staff at elite medical centers across the US are in some instances receiving vaccination for COVID-19 before patient-facing health care providers.
Health Workforce Safety
(01/15/21) Geography Is Destiny: Dentists’ Access to COVID Shots Depends on Where They Live
Dentists are experiencing difficulty being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to this article from Kaiser Health News. In some states, dentists are lower on the priority list for receiving vaccines than other health care workers, even though dental work remains high risk for exposure to COVID-19.
(01/13/21) Therapists Donate Their Time to Counsel Distressed Health Care Workers
This article published in the Medical News & Perspectives section of JAMA discusses how therapists are donating time to help health care workers who are distressed following the high rates of death and severe illness experienced treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
(01/10/21) At Elite Medical Centers, Even Workers Who Don’t Qualify Are Vaccinated
Nonclinical workers are being vaccinated at medical centers across the United States, even as front-line staff at many hospitals are still not vaccinated. Younger, healthy graduate students and health care administrators are reportedly receiving the vaccine ahead of older, patient-facing essential workers.
(01/05/21) COVID ‘Decimated Our Staff’ As the Pandemic Ravages Health Workers of Color
This article featured in Kaiser Health News covers the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had not only on Black and Latino patients but also the Black and Latino health care workers who treat these communities.
Regulatory Flexibility
An opinion piece advocates for regulatory reform to improve the capacity for non-physician providers, such as physician assistants and advanced practice nurses, to address shortfalls in providers following the pandemic.
Regulatory Flexibility
(01/16/21) COVID-19: We Can’t Bounce Back With Only Physicians
This opinion piece published in The Hill covers the importance of keeping in mind health professional regulation for non-physicians, including physician assistants and advanced practice nurses, as a way to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long-term Care
A federal program to allow retail pharmacists to vaccinate staff and patients at long-term care facilities is facing criticism for its slow pace.
Long-term Care
(01/15/21) CVS and Walgreens Under Fire for Slow Pace of Vaccination in Nursing Homes
A federal program to send pharmacists from CVS and Walgreens into long-term care facilities to vaccinate staff and patients has reportedly hampered the vaccination process in many of these locations, according to nursing home directors, health care officials, and others. This article from CNN and Kaiser Health News covers these difficulties.
State Workforce Strategies
Massachusetts becomes the latest state to enable hospitals to ignore state-mandated nursing-to-patient ratios in certain circumstances due to the pandemic.
New regulation from the New York State Department of Health requires health care providers in New York State to utilize their vaccine allocation within 7 days or risk fines and loss of future vaccine allocations.
State Workforce Strategies
(01/15/21) Geography Is Destiny: Dentists’ Access to COVID Shots Depends on Where They Live
Dentists are experiencing difficulty being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to this article from Kaiser Health News. In some states, dentists are lower on the priority list for receiving vaccines than other health care workers, even though dental work remains high risk for exposure to COVID-19.
(01/13/21) Therapists Donate Their Time to Counsel Distressed Health Care Workers
This article published in the Medical News & Perspectives section of JAMA discusses how therapists are donating time to help health care workers who are distressed following the high rates of death and severe illness experienced treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
(01/10/21) At Elite Medical Centers, Even Workers Who Don’t Qualify Are Vaccinated
Nonclinical workers are being vaccinated at medical centers across the United States, even as front-line staff at many hospitals are still not vaccinated. Younger, healthy graduate students and health care administrators are reportedly receiving the vaccine ahead of older, patient-facing essential workers.
(01/05/21) COVID ‘Decimated Our Staff’ As the Pandemic Ravages Health Workers of Color
This article featured in Kaiser Health News covers the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had not only on Black and Latino patients but also the Black and Latino health care workers who treat these communities.
Changes to Organizational Policies and Guidelines
Without a federal strategy on vaccination rollouts for COVID-19, many health care systems are distributing according to their own state or organizational strategies, leading to controversy over the prioritization of employees.
Changes to Organizational Policies and Guidelines
(01/14/21) Hospital Offering Employees Money in Exchange for Getting COVID-19 Vaccine
In an effort to increase vaccination rates, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other health care facilities across the United States are offering employees financial bonuses in exchange for being vaccinated.
(01/13/21) Hospitals’ Rocky Rollout of COVID Vaccine Sparks Questions of Fairness
This article from Kaiser Health News highlights the questions hospitals across the United States are facing in the wake of their vaccination rollout plans, which have often come with controversy. Lacking a consistent federal strategy, many states and health systems have created their own plans, sometimes vaccinating workers and administrators who do not treat patients before vaccinating the entire patient-facing workforce.
