Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press

Documents released Wednesday show that Henry Ford cardiologist Dr. William O’Neill worked with senior White House advisers to influence the FDA.

Bitter fights over whether hospitals are doing enough to retain and recruit health care workers have intensified during the pandemic, as shortages reach a crisis point.

The health system’s announcement Thursday follows similar action taken by Henry Ford Health System for workers’ failure to abide by a COVID vaccine mandate. Other hospitals will likely follow suit once federal vaccine rules are finalized.

The Detroit-based hospital system made the numbers public after a deadline passed for staff to get vaccinated. A dozen Michigan health systems were surveyed on staff vaccine rates, offering varying levels of transparency. 

Henry Ford Health System is to become the first in Michigan to require employees, contractors, students and volunteers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Statewide, 49 children were hospitalized Monday with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, according to state data.

Health care workers say the fear of an unknown virus and the frantic scramble for equipment of last spring are both gone. But gone, too, are heaps of support. In some instances, staff camaraderie forged in last year’s chaos has started to fracture.