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Facing staffing shortages and increased patient loads, hospitals are tapping into relaxed CDC guidelines to bring back employees with mild COVID symptoms.

The U.S. Department of Labor ruled last year that home care workers are entitled to more rights than had been long assumed, including overtime. Oregon, which is heavily invested in these workers to care for seniors and people with disabilities, might have to increase pay for this work by $38 million a year.

Two of the country’s largest hospital chains, CHI and Trinity, have only a small footprint in Oregon. But in their rural communities, they have outsized clout