OSHA re-opens dialogue on developing COVID-19 standard for healthcare workers
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Mar 23, 2022
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration will hold a virtual hearing April 27 about developing a final standard to protect healthcare and healthcare support service workers from workplace exposure...
All states must comply with forthcoming COVID vaccine mandate, former OSHA official says
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Oct 29, 2021
Individual states do not have the authority to opt out of the emergency temporary standard on workplace COVID-19 vaccines and testing expected to be released soon by the Department of Labor’s Occupational...
Trinity Health mandates COVID-19 vaccine for employees, contractors
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Jul 12, 2021
Trinity Health has joined the growing number of healthcare providers providers requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Taking it a step further, the national health system will...
Few COVID-displaced direct care workers return: study
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Oct 14, 2021
Approximlately 4% of direct care workers were displaced during the second quarter of 2020. A year later, few had returned to direct care, according to a new study by PHI and the Health Workforce Research...
50 National Guard members activated to help Utah LTC facilities, hospitals ease staffing shortages
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Feb 03, 2022
The Utah National Guard’s COVID-19 Joint Task Force has activated approximately 50 service members statewide, according to Tuesday’s official statement from the National Guard. The move is meant to...
Canceling OSHA healthcare standard puts workers in ‘grave danger,’ unions tell court
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Feb 01, 2022
The federal government has placed healthcare workers in “grave danger” by withdrawing portions of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s COVID-19 healthcare emergency temporary standard,...
Nursing home advocates ask CMS to amend visitation guidelines as COVID-19 spikes
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Dec 22, 2021
With the rapid spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus and a spike in COVID-19 infections overall nationwide, nursing home advocates are asking the federal government to allow providers more discretion...
Long-term care, other business groups find exclusion from federal vaccine mandate process ‘disappointing’
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Sep 30, 2021
As the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration works to develop and issue a rule for a vaccine and testing mandate announced earlier this month by President Biden, some business...
Nursing home lawsuits contest $20 million cap on pandemic-related loans
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
May 18, 2023
The Small Business Administration overstepped its authority in setting a $20 million cap on Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to lawsuits filed Monday by nursing home company Accordius Health...
No sign Supreme Court will block COVID-19 vaccination mandates, legal expert say
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Dec 15, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday in a 6-3 ruling to hear a challenge to New York’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers on religious grounds, and a legal expert says evidence is mounting that...