Some hospitals in Southern California have a nurse vacancy rate of 30%, stressing overworked staff and causing some to leave the industry earlier than they planned.
Health care finance experts point to healthy profits and a recession-era financing scheme that allows rich hospitals to take tax money from poorer ones.
A state Senate bill would extend workers’ compensation coverage of post-traumatic stress injuries for firefighters and police officers. But a separate bill to cover paramedics and EMTs is unlikely to be heard.