United Airlines will let unvaccinated employees with religious or medical Covid-19 vaccine exemptions return to their former roles on March 28, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Illinois, New York, and Virginia.

• Illinois: United Airlines announced that unvaccinated employees with religious or medical Covid-19 vaccine exemptions who were placed on unpaid leave or transitioned to noncustomer-facing roles will be allowed return to their former roles on March 28. Among the airline's 67,000 U.S. employees, roughly 2,200 claimed a religious or medical exemption to the company's vaccine mandate. United's decision to bring the unvaccinated employees back was largely based on declining Covid-19 cases following the omicron surge. However, the move could still be reversed if conditions worsen. (Sider, Wall Street Journal, 3/9)

• New York: Guthrie Cortland Medical Center on Tuesday appointed Kansas Underwood as its new VP of nursing and chief nursing officer. Underwood most recently served as interim chief nursing officer and system senior director of emergency services at Cayuga Medical Center. In her new role, Underwood will recruit and retain high-quality nurses while allowing them to enact change. Notably, on International Women's Day, the health system also announced the appointment of three other female leaders, including Patricia Vassell, who will serve as VP of nursing services and chief nursing officer at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital. (Masson, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/9)

• Virginia: HCA Virginia's Chippenham Hospital on Wednesday appointed M. Lea Lee as its new chief nursing officer. Lee, who most recently served as LewisGale Medical Center's chief nursing officer, previously served as Chippenham Hospital's nursing director in 2007. "We look forward to Lea's Chippenham return," stated William Lunn, CEO of Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals. "Her dedication to helping others will continue to ensure our community and our patients have the best care available to them whenever they need us." (Gleeson, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/9)