Hospitals have bemoaned rising employee expenses throughout the pandemic, as they’ve paid workers more to prevent them from jumping to competitors, pursuing traveling gigs, or leaving the profession completely.
But some, like those in Texas, have been able to bring in traveling nurses and other temporary staff on the taxpayers’ dime.
This free staffing highlights another instance during the pandemic in which hospitals have been propped up financially — largely through public subsidies — and contradicts industry messaging that hospitals are on the brink of collapse.
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