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New Jersey is requiring employers in covered healthcare and high-risk congregate settings (“covered settings”) to establish a policy that: (1) mandates vaccinations or weekly testing for workers; (2) creates a system to track the results of the applicable testing requirements; and (3) creates a system to communicate the results of such testing to local public…

With the significant increase in COVID-19 cases, the state of California has started implementing new measures to try to combat the rise.  On July 26, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an order requiring covered healthcare facilities to verify the vaccination status of all workers and put mandatory testing requirements in place…

Due to a rise in transmission of the Delta variant causing a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in California, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a new order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in hospitals, high-risk congregate settings, and other health care settings.

The order takes effect on August 9, 2021,…

The nation’s largest healthcare groups and associations have released separate statements endorsing the position that all healthcare workers should be fully vaccinated and supporting the implementation of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in hospitals and health systems nationwide.

On July 21, 2021, the American Hospital Association (“AHA”), an organization representing close to 5,000 members, released a…

Employers in the healthcare setting have been grappling with issues related to COVID-19 vaccinations that raise many practical and legal questions, starting with: should we ask about vaccination status? Should we require employees to be vaccinated? If not required, should we encourage employees to be vaccinated? How should we encourage it? Identifying these questions is…

Before the pandemic hit, remote work was, in most cases, a thing of the future. Concern about the productivity of remote workers caused many employers to resist these arrangements. Employees, they thought, would rather be taking care of laundry or kids than taking care of their duties. Enter Covid-19 – and most employers around the…

On May 11, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services published an interim final rule/guidance to establish COVID-19 vaccination requirements for Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities. The requirements are applicable to both residents and staff. LTC facilities have already been managing COVID-19 vaccination requirements both…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recent Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19 (Response Plan) was issued on the same day it announced its National Emphasis Program (NEP). Healthcare employers will continue to be a target of OSHA’s inspection efforts pursuant to the NEP. The Response Plan provides directions for OSHA compliance officers…

In March 2021, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released results from a national survey conducted between February 22-26, 2021 of front-line hospital administrators at 320 hospitals across 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.  The purpose of the survey was to assess…