Workforce

Organizations across the U.S., including hospitals and health systems, are increasingly requiring COVID-19 vaccination for employees, particularly as the delta variant spreads. One question that has come up amid the mandates: Are employees who are fired for noncompliance eligible for…

Citing the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the delta variant, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation Aug. 9 requiring that most state employees and all healthcare workers be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18.

Nurse practitioners have replaced physicians at the top of Merritt Hawkins' list of most recruited providers. 

A complicated labor market has employers trying to "buy back job applicants' COVID lifestyle," CNBC reports. 

Dozens of hospitals and health systems have decided to require COVID-19 vaccination for employees since March. However, some health systems have chosen not to mandate vaccines as of Aug. 6.

The BlueSky Tennessee Institute, a partnership between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee and East Tennessee State University, has begun accepting applications for enrollment in its inaugural class, The Chattanoogan reported Aug. 5.

Fifty-five state House Republicans in North Carolina have sent a letter to healthcare CEOs urging them to reexamine their decision to require staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment.

Citing increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care unit patients because of the delta variant, the California Department of Public Health issued an order Aug. 5 requiring workers in healthcare to be vaccinated.

Healthcare gained nearly 37,000 jobs in July, with hospitals seeing a month of job gains after losing jobs in June, according to the latest jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As San Diego-based Scripps Health continues to consider making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all employees, it is implementing the requirement for new employees, according to a memo to staff.