Vaccine requirements take center stage

• A group of employees at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health has been resisting the health system’s vaccination requirement, according to a story in LNP Lancaster Online.
• And state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would allow employees to refuse Covid-19 vaccinations even if employers require them.
• However, a federal court ruling last week -- in a case involving a Houston hospital -- backed vaccine requirements by employers.

• Vaccine requirements are often driven by safety concerns, say for patients in health care facilities or residents in nursing homes, among other settings.
• Whatever the reason, the decision should be left to individual employers, said Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. 
• “We’re not saying that everyone should” require vaccines, Barr said. “We’re simply saying that that should be an individual circumstance that an individual employer should decide.”

• A March survey by Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions found that 40% of employers require employees to be vaccinated.
• The survey -- backed by The Rockefeller Foundation -- covered 1,339 large and midsized employers. Roughly 75% of the respondents had more than 250 employees. Not all were in the U.S.
• For small businesses -- those with less than 500 employees -- the share requiring vaccines is much lower, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The national average was 4.4% for the week ending June 6, up from 2.5% at the end of April. The share was 4% in Pennsylvania as of June 6.
• For small biz, the requirements are most common in health care/social assistance (6.6%), educational services (6.4%) and accommodations/food services (6.4%).
• The share is 3.1% in construction, 2.9% in manufacturing and 2.7% in transportation/warehousing, according to the Census.

• As more companies return to the office, they may take a harder line when it comes to ensuring employees are vaccinated, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal.
• Businesses can generally require vaccinations, with reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, medical issues and sincere religious or ethical objections to vaccines, according to federal guidance

Following closure, York County manufacturer files Chapter 7

• The bankruptcy filing was made yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
• The filing lists assets of $11.8 million and liabilities of $13.1 million, according to the bankruptcy filing. 
• The largest and only secured creditor is listed as PeoplesBank, the banking subsidiary of York County-based Codorus Valley Bancorp. The bank's claim is listed at $7.2 million. 
• Unsecured creditors include dance schools from around the country, most with claims of no more than a couple hundred dollars. Some schools have taken to Facebook to lament the demise of the company and its apparel brands.
• Perform Group is being represented in its bankruptcy by York-based CGA Law Firm, according to the bankruptcy filing.

• The bankruptcy filing shows a steep drop in revenue this year, likely due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on its core markets.
• The company said its gross revenue since last July 1 was $6.9 million, down from $30.5 million in the year starting July 1, 2019.
• Perform Group sold apparel under brand names like Curtain Call Costumes for dance and Alpha Factor for gymnastics.
• It had factories in North York and Lower Windsor Township.

Quick takes

• The project could create up to 700 jobs, according to Dauphin County officials, who said the new jobs could help fill the gap left behind by the closure of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

• Founded in 2014, RG Injury has additional offices in East Hempfield Township (its former headquarters), Upper Leacock Township and Columbia borough.
• County deed records show the building at 1476 Lititz Pike sold for $1.3 million in September to a partnership whose members include the cofounders of RG, attorneys Chad Rankin and William Gregory. 

• PFOAs are one of a class of chemicals used in a range of products, from Teflon cookware to fire-retardant apparel to firefighting foam.
• Manufacturers have cut down on their use of the chemicals. But they are still found in water supplies, including sources across Pennsylvania, according to a report earlier this year by the Department of Environmental Protection
• The chemicals were highlighted in the 2019 movie "Dark Waters" about persistent toxic pollution in West Virginia.

• Advocates have pressed for a limit on PFOAs of no greater than six parts per trillion in drinking water, well below the 70 parts per trillion level set by the federal government as a non-enforceable health advisory level.
• State regulators did not commit to a number but said they will follow the science and consider the costs and benefits as they develop a proposed regulation.