COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the lives and livelihood of everyone around the world. If the threat of life was not sufficient, the livelihood of everyone is being threatened as well. People, especially from the minority community are being pushed out of their homes, have lost their jobs and benefits are in a perpetual state of chaos.
Safety measures such as social distancing and quarantines were put in place to protect lives, though they were effective in protecting lives, they could not protect the jobs of the people. Businesses were forced to shut down and employees were asked to work-from-home. Unfortunately, not all companies/businesses could afford that option and hence had to be permanently closed putting it’s employees out of a job. The unemployment rate in our country skyrocketed, even the Great Depression had more people employed than right now. The number of unemployed workers for the month August is at 13.6 million people. The direness of the situation is such that 13.6 million is actually an improvement from the previous number which was 2.8 million higher. Due to unemployment, the number of evictions & uninsured has also skyrocketed. Despite all these horrendous consequences, it still remains undisputable that these safety measures are absolutely necessary for controlling the spread of the virus.
Healthcare is more important now than ever and yet it is healthcare that has felt the worst of COVID-19. In the midst of an unprecedented decline in revenue due to a freeze on elective procedures and other revenue generating avenues, health systems also faced rising numbers of infected staff due to dwindling resources and a severe lack of PPEs. Hospitals had to deal with overflooded ER & OR facilities and increasing losses. There was and till date isn’t a cure for COVID-19 and hospitals & health systems even after implementing virtual services are struggling to save lives while keeping their doors open.
A great example of how devastating COVID-19 has been to the healthcare sector is by looking at the case of the employees at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In an effort to get a handle at the increasing losses, from June, this health system was forced to furlough 400 employees. Both clinical & support position staff were severely affected as a result of this decision. The losses were mainly due to the sudden dip in patient volume.
This situation has only somehow worsened now. An employee informed Becker’s Hospital Review that the furloughs for certain employees were being extended until November 1st. An announcement was made on August 14th by the healthcare provider that the furloughs for 170 employees will be extended until November 1st.
Here’s The Statement Children’s Healthcare Made To 11Alive
“Last month, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta furloughed and separated fewer than 400 members of our workforce across both clinical and support staff in response to reduced patient volumes, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We remain steadfast in our commitment to safely care for the children of Georgia.”
Right now, due to staffing issues and dwindling resources, it has become increasingly difficult to provide quality healthcare. That is why we at BillingParadise, have developed a complete turnkey telemedicine platform with end-to-end billing support. Also, due to the financial constraints experienced by everyone, we are delivering them at slashed prices.
