ASCENSION

Jacksonville-area hospital workers are sounding off as the News4JAX I-TEAM continues to investigate an issue that’s making them pay back some money from past paychecks.

ThedaCare said in a complaint that Ascension had "poached" the hospital's workers as the region struggles amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Companies across the U.S. are requiring employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Based on its investigation, the department determined that Ascension automatically requested that its non-U.S. citizen employees present new documents to prove their continued work authorization, even in situations where it was not required. Ascension utilized a customized employment eligibility verification software program to electronically complete the Form I-9 and track the expiration dates of non-U.S. citizen employee documents. These non-U.S. citizen employees often presented documents that did not require reverification of employment eligibility. In some instances after sending these e-mails, Ascension further required non-U.S. citizen employees to present new documents in order to continue working. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from requesting more or different documents than necessary to prove work authorization based on employees’ citizenship, immigration status, or national origin.

The much more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to rage across Florida, sending another 526 people to the hospital and increasing the state’s record-setting total of hospitalizations to 12,041.

Joining a growing number of health systems nationwide, Ascension announced on Tuesday that it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for its associates, whether they care for patients or not.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hundreds of frontline health care workers at Ascension St. Vincent’s in Riverside received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Thursday morning. Roughly 500 doses of COVID-19 are being administered to healthcare workers in Ascension St. Vincent’s Hospital and the message on Thursday was one of hope. Ascension St. Vincent’s in Jacksonville is moving forward with Pfizer to vaccinate its front-line staff today. 500 healthcare workers set to get the #CovidVaccine. After getting the first dose of the shot, healthcare workers stayed for 15 minutes for observation.

(CNN) - A federal inquiry has been opened into Google's efforts to collect health data on millions of Americans through its "Project Nightingale" program. The two companies confirmed they were working together to analyze patient data and give health care providers new insights and suggestions for patient care. The partnership between Google and Ascension will integrate Ascension's different areas of health data in the cloud. Google acknowledged the sensitive nature of patient health data. Google's push into health care comes amid growing interest in the space from tech companies, such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft.

Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud and formerly president of product development at Oracle, speaks at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco on Oct. 3, 2017. Google Cloud, which aims to compete with Amazon and Microsoft, has the potential to pick up some of the slack despite trailing well behind the two industry leaders. Health care is a particularly attractive sector, as there are still large accounts to be won. But being unable to address privacy concerns could sink these ambitions, as no health customer wants to face angry consumers concerned about Google getting their health data. "And if it didn't happen, health care would grind to a screeching halt."

Wikimedia Commons(CNN) - Google has confirmed it's collecting health data on millions of Americans through a new partnership with Ascension, one of the country's largest nonprofit health systems. The tech company and Ascension confirmed they were working together to analyze patient data to give health care providers new insights and care suggestions for patients. Although light on specifics, Google and Ascension said the partnership would integrate Ascension's various silos of health data in the cloud. Google acknowledged the sensitivity of patient health data, adding that it's "understandable" people wanted to ask questions about Project Nightingale. But according to the Journal, some Ascension employees have questioned how Google is sharing and collecting the patient data.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, speaks to the media before the opening of the Berlin representation of Google Germany in Berlin on January 22, 2019. The deal was first disclosed by a Wall Street Journal piece, which explained that 150 Google employees already have access to data on tens of millions of patients without their knowledge or consent. However, it's not clear that the deal represents a major privacy risk. These people asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal with the media. On the Google side, the goal was to develop tools to make it easier for doctors to pull up specific patient data in a medical record.

A recently revealed deal between Google and hospital network Ascension is already sparking privacy concerns in Congress. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic presidential candidate, shared privacy concerns Tuesday on how the companies are sharing private patient health data. CNBC reported earlier Wednesday that the privacy concerns may not be as straightforward as they could appear on face value. "This collaboration isn't the only one that raises serious privacy concerns," Klobuchar said in a statement. The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to help the Federal Trade Commission establish "meaningful regulations that protect private health data not covered under existing privacy law."