Some Large US Hospital Systems Dropping Vax Mandates–Hoping To Ease Labor Shortages

By Jacob Palmieri - December 13, 2021



Some of the largest U.S. hospital systems have dropped Covid-19 vaccine mandates for staff after a federal judge temporarily halted a Biden administration mandate that healthcare workers get the shots.
Hospital operators including HCA Healthcare Inc. HCA +0.57% and Tenet Healthcare Corp. THC +0.09% as well as nonprofits AdventHealth and the Cleveland Clinic are dropping the mandates. Labor costs in the industry have soared, and hospitals struggled to retain enough nurses, technicians and even janitors to handle higher hospitalizations in recent months as the Delta variant raged. Vaccine mandates have been a factor constraining the supply of healthcare workers, according to hospital executives, public-health authorities and nursing groups.
Many hospitals already struggled to find workers, including nurses, before the pandemic. The shortages were compounded by burnout among many medical workers and the lure of high pay rates offered to nurses who travel to hot spots on short-term contracts.

More recently, thousands of nurses have left the industry or lost their jobs rather than get vaccinated. As of September, 30% of workers at more than 2,000 hospitals across the country surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were unvaccinated.
“It’s been a mass exodus, and a lot of people in the healthcare industry are willing to go and shop around,” said Wade Symons, an employee-benefits lawyer and head of consulting firm Mercer’s U.S. regulatory practice. “If you get certain healthcare facilities that don’t require it, those could be a magnet for those people who don’t want the vaccine. They’ll probably have an easier time attracting labor.”

Four States have already had to call in the National Guard:




Four States Calling In National Guard To Deal With Healthcare Staffing Shortages
Biden’s vaccine mandate has caused healthcare shortages all across the country. Four states have been forced to call in the National Guard to deal with health staffing shortages. From Zero Hedge: Indiana Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health, the state’s largest hospital system, announced Dec. 9 it requested assistance from the National Guard for most of its … Continue readingFour States Calling In National Guard To Deal With Healthcare Staffing Shortages

ThePalmieriReport

Some Large US Hospital Systems Dropping Vax Mandates--Hoping To Ease Labor Shortages (thepalmierireport.com)