Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Overworked Missouri Pharmacists Prompt Working Conditions Probe
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Board To Investigate Working Conditions At Pharmacies After Hundreds Complain
The Missouri Board of Pharmacy is forming a task force to examine working conditions inside pharmacies across the state, after hundreds of pharmacists alleged they have been overworked, pressured to meet corporate metrics and haven’t had time to fill prescriptions safely. Some said they were at times unable to take a break or go to the restroom during shifts. “I’ve heard pharmacists say that they don’t drink anything before they go on shift because they’re afraid they may not get a bathroom break,” said Ron Fitzwater, CEO of the Missouri Pharmacy Association. “That’s not even healthy, much less a good business practice.” (Merrilees, 7/1)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Worker Shortages Are Real In The Philly Region’s Nursing Homes
Nursing homes have long had a problem attracting staff. Now, arguably, it’s gotten harder. As employers in just about every service industry struggle to hire workers, nursing home operators in New Jersey are facing a special challenge of increased staffing requirements for nursing assistants under a law that took effect Feb. 1. The new standard requires one certified nursing assistant for every eight residents during the day, with lower ratios for evening and night shifts. Increasing staff is seen as a clear way to improve care for patients. The New Jersey Department of Health has already cited eight facilities for not meeting the regulation. (Brubaker, 7/2)
Dallas Morning News: Nurses To Gather In Dallas Over Complaints Against Tenet Healthcare
Striking nurses from Massachusetts will travel to Tenet Healthcare’s Dallas headquarters on Wednesday to deliver a petition calling out the hospital company’s “complete disdain for its nurses” during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nurses, along with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, plan to make a direct appeal to Tenet CEO Ronald Rittenmeyer to address what they call a patient safety crisis at the company’s St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester caused by a lack of sufficient PPE and understaffing. The group decided to come to Dallas after Tenet threatened to permanently replace the striking nurses. (Lieberman, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: As Nurses Strike, U.S. Lawmakers Demand Details Into Tenet's COVID-19 Grants
Four Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers are demanding that Tenet Healthcare disclose how it spent COVID-19 relief funds, accusing the health system of enriching its executives and shareholders instead of supporting its providers and communities. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Edward Markey, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Lori Trahan blast the company for accepting federal money while shortchanging its workers, including nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, who currently are on strike. (Bannow, 7/1)
The New York Times: Frontline Health Care Workers Aren’t Feeling the ‘Summer of Joy’
A largely unmasked nation will celebrate the nation’s return to near-normalcy this weekend with a ticker-tape parade in New York City, a dazzling fireworks display over the Washington Monument and countless Independence Day gatherings in cities and towns across the country. “A summer of freedom. A summer of joy,” is how the White House tried to promote a new national mood in a letter encouraging local officials to hold public events during the July 4th holiday. ... But the summer is turning out to be fairly joyless in places like CoxHealth Medical Center in Springfield, Mo., where nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists have been grappling with a resurgence in coronavirus cases that forced the hospital to reopen the 80-bed Covid unit it had shuttered in May. (Jacobs, 7/1)
In other news about health care personnel —
Modern Healthcare: Medical Societies, Associations Silent On Vaccine Mandates
When Penn Medicine announced its vaccine mandate May 19, the health system didn't do so because it had received guidance from professional medical societies or national trade associations. At the time, they hadn't made any. "Professional societies' positions have not come into play honestly. Not many have staked out a position," said Dr. Patrick Brennan, chief medical officer and senior vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which is part of Penn Medicine. "It's not that it didn't matter. We would have liked to have them on board." (Christ, 7/1)
The Washington Post: A Doctor Was Penalized For Wearing Hoop Earrings During Her Med School Exam
How do you define “professionalism” in the workplace? That’s a conversation being had among women of color in medicine after a tweet about a Latina doctor being docked for wearing hoop earrings during a practical exam in medical school went viral. For Briana Christophers, a fourth-year MD-PhD student at the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program in New York, the story resonated. “There’s a big movement to police women of color and how they present themselves in medical spaces,” said Christophers, who identifies as Latina. “I think in part it’s as a way of trying to make people who don’t usually fit the mold, fit the mold.” (Hatzipanagos, 7/1)
Stat: In New Role At Maven, Neel Shah Wants To Ensure New Parents Aren’t ‘Lost’
When celebrated Boston OB-GYN Neel Shah first learned of the chance to help build a health platform that could impact hundreds of times more babies than he could ever deliver, he thought he had just the right person for the job. But after fully planning to recommend the position — as the first chief medical officer of maternal and family virtual care platform Maven Clinic — to a colleague, Shah decided it was a job he personally couldn’t pass up. He hopes to use the title, which he made official on Thursday, to develop a scalable service that fosters trust while delivering more equitable care. (Brodwin, 7/1)
