• California: Clorox has agreed to acquire Gojo Industries, which makes the hand sanitizer Purell, for $2.25 billion. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gojo saw a surge in demand for Purell from consumers and businesses to help protect themselves from infection. According to Clorox, the deal will help the company expand more into the health and hygiene categories. Currently, Gojo has almost $800 million in annual sales, with over 80% coming from hand hygiene products. Clorox said the deal will help increase growth and support the company's long-term sales growth target of 3% to 5%. After considering tax benefits worth roughly $330 million, the net purchase price for the deal should be roughly $1.92 billion. (Primack, Axios, 1/22; Beckerman, Wall Street Journal, 1/22)
• California/Hawaii: Last week, around 31,000 RNs and other frontline Kaiser Permanente workers in California and Hawaii launched an open-ended strike, calling for better wages and staffing. According to the Associated Press/MedPage Today, this is the second large-scale strike by Kaiser workers in the last few months. Last October, over 30,000 workers went on strike for five days, which ultimately led to contract negotiations resuming. However, negotiations broke down again in December. "We will continue to push Kaiser to stop their egregious unfair labor practices against the frontline workers who deliver the best care for their patients and billions in profit to do the right thing, and come back to the table to bargain in good faith," said the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals' bargaining committee. Currently, the workers are asking for a 25% increase in wages over four years while Kaiser has countered with a 21.5% increase over four years. According to Kaiser, the represented employees earn 16% more than their peers on average, and the organization would have to increase costs for customers to meet the pay demands. (Associated Press/MedPage Today, 1/28)
• Tennessee: Community Health Systems (CHS) is continuing its efforts to reshape its strategy with plans to divest five hospitals in Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Earlier this month, CHS signed a definitive agreement to sell Crestwood Medical Center in Alabama to the nearby Huntsville Hospital Health System for $450 million. CHS also agreed to sell its 80% ownership stake in two joint ventures that own and operate Tennova Healthcare for $600 million. Currently, CHS is planning to exit the Pennsylvania market through a proposed sale of Commonwealth Health, a three-hospital system in Scranton. The affected hospitals include Regional Hospital of Scranton, Moses Taylor Hospital, and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. According to CHS, its divestiture plan reflects the system's broader strategy of focusing its portfolio on core markets and reducing debt. Since 2019, CHS has paid more than $3 billion in debt. "Many of the hospitals we've divested didn't fit into our network-of-care strategy," said CHS CEO Kevin Hammons. "Refocusing has allowed us to hone in on our core markets, where we have the full continuum of care and can truly leverage our scale." (Condon, Becker's Hospital Review, 1/26)

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges to workforce stability, causing more staff members than ever to decide that now is the time to leave their roles, some even leaving the industry altogether. Before it's too late, read on to learn three insights we uncovered during our interdisciplinary summit for executives to better retain and recruit your clinical workforce.