COVID-19 had a major impact on hospital finances. Here are the numbers

Children between the ages of 5 and 11 are now able to get vaccinated against COVID-19, marking a new milestone in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

But the ripple effect of the pandemic on the healthcare system is likely to be long-lasting, with studies released in the past couple of weeks revealing just how large the hit has been.?

• The decision to stop elective surgical procedures during the early weeks of the pandemic resulted in a significant drop in revenue for hospitals, according to a pair of studies presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons. By suspending procedures from mid-March through early May 2020, one unnamed university health care network, for example, lost 42% of its net revenue for five months. And across the country, the loss of revenue from pediatric procedures alone amounted to $1.53 billion.
• Every health care executive who responded to a survey from consulting firm Kaufman Hall said they have faced workforce issues, including burnout, high turnover rates and difficulty filling vacancies. And 90% have increased base salaries for clinicians.?
• About two-thirds of respondents to the Kaufman Hall survey said they expect the percentage of administrative staff working remotely to remain at its current pandemic level for the foreseeable future. Another 23% expect remote work to return to pre-pandemic levels, while 11% expect the percentage of remote administrative positions to increase.?
• Hospitals will struggle to get back to their pre-pandemic financial results, Moody’s Investors Service warned. The nursing shortage has increased labor costs, with no sign of relief next year. Burnout has led to nurses leaving hospital-based positions and exploring other options, Modern Healthcare reported.

How is your employer handling remote work? What do the numbers look like compared with prior to the pandemic?

#HardCases First responders, including emergency medical technicians and paramedics, have been under intense strain during each COVID-19 wave, and burnout has been pervasive. The challenges have gotten so severe that ambulance operators are concerned that labor shortages could hamper their ability to provide services. In this week’s Hard Cases article, Denis Lenehan, an EMT and firefighter who also serves as a senior principal consultant for the FirstNet program at AT&T, shares some of the efforts to address burnout among first responders. Read his piece to learn how animal-assisted therapy (among other programs) is helping first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder and emotional distress.?

#MentalHealth As someone who lost her dad earlier this year, this article on grief in The Atlantic hit home. While the coronavirus pandemic certainly increased the sheer number of employees who are dealing with the loss of a loved one, the American workplace has long been ill equipped to deal with grief — both from a practical perspective (with many employers not having leave policies in place) as well as a mental health one. The hard work of grieving doesn’t stop after the funeral and grieving employees may need additional support in the weeks and months that follow.

How do you think organizations could better support grieving employees?

#GlobalHealth As rich countries grapple with inoculating the vaccine-hesitant, many poorer countries are still struggling to get the coronavirus vaccine to frontline health care workers. That disparity took center stage in Italy last week at the Group of 20 summit, where countries flush with vaccine inventory came under pressure to help close the gap.

Here’s what LinkedIn Influencers are saying about the push for vaccine equity: