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Rapid City health system ‘extremely busy’ with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A health system at the epicenter of the growing South Dakota COVID-19 surge says it is dealing with a flood of COVID-19 patients by shifting staff and crafting makeshift intensive care rooms. Monument Health of Rapid City, South Dakota, issued a statement Friday, Aug. 27, saying it’s “extremely busy” as it deals with the surge. The health system in the Black Hills, which recently hosted the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, is treating 78 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. That’s nearly twice the number from a week ago and significantly higher than the five patients hospitalized with the virus a … Read more
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AccentCare CEO: Home Health Industry Can’t Become the ‘Last Refuge’ for Unvaccinated Workers
After months of taking a more passive approach to COVID-19 vaccinations, home health providers are starting to turn up the heat on their workforce. On Tuesday, Sarasota, Florida-based Empath Health — a home health, hospice and home care provider that also offers palliative care and more — announced it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all staff, volunteers and vendors. Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health has similarly said that all of its 150,000 employees across the nonprofit system, presumably including home health workers, must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1. Contextually, these and other home-based care organizations have taken a stronger stance on … Read more
