The healthcare workforce declined by 44,000 jobs in the first three months of this year, compared to the end of 2020, according to an analysis released April 16 by nonprofit researchers Altarum.

Great Falls, Mont.-based Benefis Health System will make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for employees, the organization told Becker's.

Houston Methodist managers had a deadline of April 15 to receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the system's mandate. The numbers are in: 99.4 percent of the management team has complied.

New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has established the virtual Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience and Recovery to address mental health needs of its 76,000 employees, their families and community members, the health system said April 14.

Most Laconia, N.H.-based LRGHealthcare employees have joined or received job offers to join Concord (N.H.) Hospital ahead of the proposed sale of two LRGHealthcare hospitals to Concord Hospital, according to a joint news release. 

A Facebook account claiming to be a recruitment channel for Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and its facilities spread fake job listings, AFP Fact Check, a global fact-checking organization, reported April 12. 

The number of certified physician assistants grew 6.52 percent between 2018 and 2019, with Rhode Island, Mississippi and New Jersey seeing the largest increases among states, according to a report released April 7 by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.

More than 3,600 U.S. healthcare workers died of COVID-19 and its complications nationwide in the first year of the pandemic, according to an investigation by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for front-line healthcare workers, particularly younger ones, a Kaiser Family Foundation/The Washington Post national poll found.

Female employees with children and those in clinical roles were more likely to consider leaving the workforce or cutting their hours during the pandemic, according to a study published April 2 in JAMA Network Open.

Healthcare added 11,500 jobs in March, although hospitals lost jobs for the third month since September, according to the latest jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Houston Methodist will make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for employees, with the first phase including managers and new hires, the health system said March 31. 

The World Health Organization is warning about the rising risk of mental health challenges healthcare workers face amid a global surge of COVID-19, The Washington Post reported March 31.

Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health is launching a medical assistant school and specialized educational programs to expand career opportunities for healthcare workers, the health system said March 29.

President Joe Biden plans to direct $100 million to a national network of volunteer health professionals to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations, NBC News reported March 25, citing administration officials.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has signed a law requiring hospitals and outpatient surgery centers that use energy-generating devices to use a smoke evacuation system during surgical procedures that are likely to produce surgical smoke, OR Today reported.

The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the need for hospitals and health systems to find more cost-effective, flexible staffing solutions that support clinician well-being and care quality. Considering the pandemic’s significant financial impact, it's critical to figure out staffing models that help cut and save costs.

COVID-19 has taken a tremendous emotional and physical toll on clinicians. Throughout the pandemic, clinicians have grappled with daily changes in clinical knowledge, high volumes of patients, limited resources and anxiety about the health of their families, friends and themselves.

More than half of front-line healthcare workers, 52 percent, said they had received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine dose as of early March, a new national survey by Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post found. 

The healthcare workforce declined 3.5 percent between February 2020, before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and February 2021, according to an analysis released March 17 by nonprofit researchers Altarum.