Workforce

OptumCare, the part of UnitedHealth Group that provides direct patient care, plans on adding thousands of physicians in the next year, UnitedHealth's CEO said during a Jan. 20 earnings call.

Probable mental health disorders, and thoughts of self-harm, are prevalent among intensive care unit staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research published Jan. 13 in Occupational Medicine.

As some hospitals work to get their front-line staff vaccinated, several academic medical centers have started vaccinating nonclinical employees, contrary to federal guidelines, according to The New York Times.

Lansing, Mich.-based Sparrow Health System has some 800 open positions at locations across the organization, Lansing State Journal reported.

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge, Massachusetts hospitals may be eligible for exemption from the state's mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in the intensive care unit, according to a Jan. 7 news release from Gov. Charlie Baker. 

The County of Santa Clara has fined Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's San Jose hospital $43,000 in response to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases among emergency department staff, according to a statement and notice shared with Becker's Hospital Review.  

Healthcare added 38,800 jobs in December, with hospitals seeing job growth for the sixth month since March, according to the latest jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus is investigating a COVID-19 outbreak involving 27 employees and six patients at its Ohio State East Hospital.

COVID-19 outbreaks among Los Angeles healthcare workers has further strained staffing at hospitals, according to the Los Angeles Times.

As COVID-19 rages across the U.S., Pennsylvania clinicians are urging state residents to help stop virus spread.