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Several hospitals have warned that they are struggling financially after the strains of the pandemic. A new loan program, if approved, could offer short-term relief.

As hospitals and other health care facilities struggle with staffing shortages, health workers could get a wage increase under a legislative proposal. But some smaller facilities already struggling financially say they can’t afford it.

After Madera Community Hospital in Madera County closed earlier this year, other hospitals have signaled they are struggling financially. Legislators are considering several solutions to funnel more money to hospitals to prevent them from cutting services or closing.

If it passes, the compromise bill could radically overhaul Oregon’s nurse staffing law and make it among the first in the nation to create nurse-to-patient ratios.

The first-of-its-kind multi-agency analysis has provided a much more granular, regional-level understanding of why Oregon continues to suffer from a nursing shortage, and it lays out potential solutions.

Oregon nurses want lawmakers to put minimum staffing standards in place for hospitals, saying it’s critical as the nursing workforce faces burnout, staff shortages and unsafe conditions for patients.

As of Jan. 1, California joined 45 other states and the District of Columbia with next-of-kin laws that designate a surrogate to make decisions on a patient’s behalf — even if that person wasn’t specifically authorized by the patient before the medical situation arose.

Union-aligned Democrats have introduced legislation mandating a statewide $25 minimum wage for health workers and support staffers, likely setting up a pitched battle with hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics.

A study by Oregon Health & Science University found that patients in Iowa, Nevada and Ohio had the highest rates of use, while Oregon was in the middle.

Oregon’s largest nurses union and the hospital industry are gearing up for a push – and potential fight – in the Legislature to bolster the ranks of nurses that have dwindled over the past three years.

The University of California’s health system is renewing contracts with hundreds of outside hospitals and clinics — many with religious affiliations.

Asante declared the ongoing emergency in mid-December due to nursing shortages.