October 25, 2021 | Mandates Revisited: Early Impacts on the Workforce and Patient Care

Because the mandate implementation continues to generate news on a daily basis, this program is a direct follow-up to our September 29 event, “Uncomfortable Realities: Facing the Challenges of Vaccine Mandates.”

Oregon’s health care employers and workers scrambled to respond to Gov. Kate Brown’s October 18 vaccination mandate deadline. How has this played out in communities across the state? While the situation remains very fluid, early reporting suggests that impacts vary depending on location, type of facility and employer exemption policies. Major health systems in the area have employee vaccination rates of 90 percent or more. Still, a significant number of health care workers have lost their jobs because they did not meet the requirement, heightening the staffing crisis that already existed in this sector. Some facilities have now consolidated or reduced services, resulting in increased wait times. Our expert panelists will discuss the most current data from the field and what lies ahead for the workforce and patient care.

Moderator:

Sabrina Van Artsdalen
Senior Project Manager, Worksystems, Inc.

Sabrina joined Worksystems in 2011 and is on the Business Services Team. She is the lead for the health care industry and works with employers assisting with their workforce training and employment needs. Over the last few years she has convened employers and educators to discuss the gaps in several health care occupations where training capacity is an issue, resulting in more flexible training schedules and health care professionals entering the field. Sabrina has over 35 years of workforce development experience in both the public and private sector including human resources management and WorkSource Portland Metro Manager for the State of Oregon. She is originally from California where she owned an employment agency that specialized in high technology professional placement. Sabrina grew up surfing the sunny beaches of California before settling in Oregon 27 years ago. She enjoys all sports and you can find her golfing the beautiful courses in Oregon in the summer. She escapes to warmer courses in the winter.

Contact Sabrina at svanartsdalen@worksystems.org.

Panelists:

Kristin Cole
Director of Human Resources, The Oregon Clinic

Kristin is the Director of Human Resources for The Oregon Clinic, Oregon’s largest independent medical clinic. In her 20 years with the clinic, it has grown three-fold to more than 270 specialty providers with 60 locations around the Portland Metro region. The Oregon Clinic recently celebrated its 7th year as a Top Workplace and the highest ranking of any health care organization in the state. A native of Chicago and alumna of University of Illinois, Champaign, Kristin has long considered Portland home. When not working on all things employment related, she loves to travel, hike, play mixologist and foster kittens through the Humane Society.

Contact Kristin at kcole@orclinic.com.

Ken M. Gatter, JD, MD
Physician

Ken Gatter is a physician specializing in pathology. He practiced law for a short time before going to medical school. He taught health law for 10 years as an adjunct at Willamette Law School, and has taught pathology and health law topics at OHSU for 20 years. Ken has benefitted from education, training, and experience at Boston University Law School, Bronx DA’s Office, University Hospitals Cleveland/Case Western University, Willamette Law School, OHSU, and MLPO.

Contact Ken at kenmgatter@gmail.com.

Liza Morehead, PhD
Research & Data Analyst, Worksystems, Inc.

Dr. Liza Morehead is the research and data analyst at Worksystems. She has expertise in applied research and public policy analysis in a variety of areas, including labor market economics, urban planning, and public policy analysis. Recent projects include a labor market analysis of the training and occupational development needs resulting from a projected increase in transportation electrification in Oregon, and analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 economic crisis on demographic and socio-economic affinity groups.

Contact Liza at lmorehead@worksystems.org.

Event Slideshow:

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Annual Sponsors:

To share your ideas or discuss forum sponsorship opportunities, please contact Brent Dahl at brent@oregonhealthforum.org.