• District of Columbia: According to anonymous internal sources, leaders across HHS have reportedly been asked to rank probationary workers ahead of a potential executive order that could cut thousands of jobs. Last week, officials at CDC and other health agencies were asked to categorize their probationary workers as mission-critical, important, and not mission-critical. According to the Washington Post, leaders were asked to provide these rankings amid efforts from the Trump administration to reduce the federal workforce by 2% to 5% with a deferred resignation program. Although federal worker unions have argued that the program is unlawful, around 40,000 workers, or 2% of the entire civilian workforce, have taken the deal, which allows them to quit now but be paid through September. (Diamond et al., Washington Post, 2/6; Muoio, Fierce Healthcare, 2/6)
• Illinois: Walgreens has sold around $300 million worth of shares in the drug distributor Cencora "primarily for debt paydown and general corporate purposes." Over the last four years, Walgreens has been reducing its stake in various businesses to raise funding for other priorities, including creating a new specialty pharmacy business and adding more healthcare services to its stores. According to Forbes, the stock sale decreases Walgreens' stake in Cencora from 10% to 6%. Although Walgreens' stake in Cencora has decreased, the company said that it "remains fully committed to the strategic, mutually beneficial relationship with Cencora, which has been a strong and trusted partner since 2013." (Japsen, Forbes, 2/6)
• Maryland: So far this year, FDA has announced over a dozen food recalls, including some at the highest risk level. Some food recalls at the highest risk level include the Marketside brand of broccoli from Walmart, some Costco eggs, and Lay's potato chips. These recalls were made due to either potential exposure to harmful bacteria like salmonella or listeria or undeclared ingredients, like milk. According to Axios, the increase in food recalls recently may partly be due to rising consumer demand for ready-to-eat foods and prepackaged meals. "We're also dealing with a scenario where we're having increased globalization of food production, which not only creates more opportunities for contamination at multiple points in the supply chain, but it creates more scenarios where there's blind spots," said Darin Detwiler, a professor at Northeastern University and food safety advocate. (Lalljee, Axios, 2/3)

In a rapidly changing healthcare environment, workforce stability is more important than ever. Stay ahead of the curve with Advisory Board's latest workforce benchmarks, offering data on employee headcount, turnover, and span of control. Learn how to navigate workforce challenges and drive innovation in your organization with expert insight.