Health Care Workforce Reinvestment Act passes out of Illinois House

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois House voted on a plan Friday to address the shortage of health care workers in hospitals and other health care facilities across the state.

Under House Bill 559, anyone who received temporary licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic could be allowed to continue working as health care providers in Illinois. The Health Care Workforce Reinforcement Act could also help pharmacists have easier access to flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) explained he was able to bring the Illinois State Medical Society, Illinois Hospital Association, Nurses Association, and Illinois Retail Merchants Association together to negotiate and support the legislation.

Democrats and Republicans said they're happy that Illinois could address this issue.

"They had a stack of 25,000 names of nurses that were given their licenses and being able to work here these past three years simply because of the executive order that caused that to happen," said Rep. Randy Frese (R-Quincy). "I can't imagine where we would've been without those 25,000."

However, Frese said he was frustrated that state lawmakers didn't address the worker shortage sooner.

House Bill 559 passed out of the House unanimously and now heads to the Senate.