healthcare workers Archives - The Virginia Star

New Report Shows Virginia Hospitals Provide $3.3 Billion in Community Support, Generate over $64 Billion in Economic Activity

January 11, 2024January 10, 2024 Tom Pappert

Virginia hospitals and health systems provided $3.3 billion in community support for the Commonwealth in 2022, according to a new report by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) published on Wednesday. The report also revealed Virginia’s healthcare industry generated more than $64 billion in positive economic activity over the same period.

VHHA determined the dollar amount in community support by “reflecting the cost of uncompensated care, community wellness investment, taxes, and donations.”

California Senate Passes $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers

June 5, 2023 The Center Square

A $25 minimum wage bill for healthcare workers was passed on Wednesday in the California Senate. The partisan bill did not receive a single Republican vote in its 21-11 passage. Authored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), and championed by the Service Employees International Union, the bill proposes to increase the state’s minimum wage for healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers at general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, medical offices and clinics, behavioral health centers, dialysis clinics and residential care centers as well as as certified nursing assistants, patient aides, technicians, and food service workers, among many others can all expect a wage increase, if the bill becomes law. All paid work performed on the premises of any covered health care facility, regardless of the identity of the employer qualifies for the increase.

Biden Admin to Reverse Trump-Era ‘Conscience’ Exemption for Healthcare Workers

April 21, 2022April 20, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden Administration’s Department Health and Human Services (HHS) has confirmed that it plans to eliminate a policy implemented during the Trump Administration that allows healthcare workers to cite religious or moral beliefs when seeking exemptions from performing certain acts in the line of duty.

Gov. Reynolds Announces Funding to Train Teachers, Health Care Workers, Aircraft Techs

January 19, 2022January 18, 2022 The Center Square

Several career-focused educational grants and funding opportunities were announced last week for Iowa institutions.

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced funding initiatives in her 2022 Condition of the State Address, including the first-in-the nation Teacher and Paraeducator Registered Apprenticeship Grant Program.

Through the program, current high school students can earn paraeducator certificates and associates degrees, and paraeducators can earn their bachelor’s degree while learning and working in the classroom. The program starts in the 2022-2023 school year.

Tea Party Patriots and Job Creators Network Praise Supreme Court Ruling on Biden’s OSHA Vaccine Mandate

January 13, 2022 Cooper Moran

Tea Party Patriots Action (TPPA) and the Job Creators Network (JCN) praised the ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court that prohibited President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for private businesses.

The mandate, which would have been enacted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, could have forced businesses with 100 or more employees to mandate the vaccine or weekly testing.

Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for U.S. Workers, Allows Mandate for Healthcare Workers

January 13, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Supreme Court with a cherry blossom in the foreground

In a Thursday afternoon ruling, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s OSHA vaccine mandate that would apply to American workers.

The court allowed a separate policy, that requires vaccinations for most health-care workers at facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funding, to stand.

Nurses Blast New CDC Emergency Guidance That Allows Healthcare Workers Infected with COVID to Return to Work

December 29, 2021December 28, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Healthcare workers are up in arms over a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emergency guidance that allows healthcare workers who have had “higher risk exposures” to COVID, and even those infected with COVID to return to work after a five day quarantine as long as they’re asymptomatic.

Nurses groups are condemning the CDC’s guidance as “potentially dangerous” for both workers and patients.

Earlier this month, the CDC issued the alert to health care workers across the United States as a “contingency” plan for anticipated staffing shortages due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Maine Healthcare Workers Challenging Vaccine Mandate

November 1, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from Maine healthcare workers attempting to block the state’s vaccine mandate.

The group of unvaccinated workers argued that the law violated their First Amendment rights because the law doesn’t have a religious exemption.

According to the Associated Press, Maine is one of three states including New York and Rhode Island that have vaccine mandates that lack religious exemptions for healthcare workers.

Virginia Health System Mandates Vaccines for Employees

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

Virginia Commonwealth University sign to University Student Commons

Despite the fact that many healthcare workers Butnationwide have taken to the streets to protest vaccine mandates, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System has mandated that all of its employees must take the vaccine.

“All VCU and VCU Health System employees will be required to report COVID-19 vaccinations,” the university announced. “If you have already reported your vaccination, there is no action required on your part. If applicable, you may submit a request for a medical or religious exemption. Additional information is forthcoming from the university and health system about the medical and religious exemption process.”

Millions of COVID-19 Vaccines Have Yet to Be Used Since First U.S. Distribution

January 3, 2021January 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Over 9 million COVID-19 vaccines have yet to be administered in the U.S. since they were initially distributed on Dec. 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the 12,409,050 doses of the vaccines that have been distributed, only 2,794,588 have been administered as of Wednesday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vaccinations in Virginia Are Lagging Behind Distributed Doses

January 1, 2021December 31, 2020 Jacob Taylor

Coronavirus vaccination efforts by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) have been ongoing since December 15, but the number of administered doses is significantly less than the amount distributed throughout the Commonwealth.

According to the COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, as of Thursday, Virginia has distributed 388,100 doses, but only 64,882 have actually been administered so far.

Virginia Hospitals Receive First Shipments of COVID-19 Vaccine

December 16, 2020December 15, 2020 Jacob Taylor

The coronavirus vaccine has finally arrived in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Several hospitals in Virginia received initial shipments of the newly approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, kicking off the state’s months-long plan for mass vaccinations and finally signaling a potential end to the pandemic.

President Trump Moves to Protect Home Care Workers from Union Shakedown

July 16, 2018July 15, 2018 Admin

By Richard McCarty The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has proposed rolling back an Obama-Era regulation that allowed union dues to be deducted from Medicaid checks. If the proposed regulation takes effect, only deductions specifically allowed by law,…