BOSTON (CBS) – Partners HealthCare has told its employees they will not receive hazard pay during the coronavirus pandemic, WBZ-TV’s I-Team has discovered.

The I-Team obtained a copy of an email sent out to employees which said that “A core part of our mission is that we deliver the same high-quality care to all patients without regard to the type or severity of their condition. Similarly, we do not calibrate pay and benefits based upon the patients’ condition and for this reason we do not offer hazard or crisis pay.”

Partners went on to say that employees will receive pay and benefits if they are unable to work due to a “COVID-related” illness, and the organization will offer eight weeks of pay and benefits to employees who “are temporarily without their own work or a reassignment opportunity because their job has been affected by deferrals of elective or other non-urgent procedures.”

Partners said it will also provide hotel rooms for employees working directly with patients if they are too tired to commute or don’t have enough time between shifts to go home...

Partners HealthCare expects to spend $6.1B in next five years on expansions

...Partners plans to spend $6.1 billion from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2024 to stay at the top of the health care food chain, according to the presentation. Spending, in both committed projects and new initiatives, could ultimately be higher, with another $675 million available for the organization...

...In fiscal 2019 alone, revenue from innovation totaled $349 million — a 139% increase from fiscal 2018. Apart from general upticks, the health system saw a large bump in fiscal 2019 from the sale of an orthopedic device to Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH), an Indiana-based medical device company, for $47 million.

At the same time, the organization has saved millions of dollars since fiscal 2017. From fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2019, Partners had saved $424 million through a variety of expense management techniques, including supply chain efficiencies, workflow improvements, a buyout of Brigham employees and other operational efficiencies. The organization hopes to save another $76 million in fiscal 2020.

That strategy has allowed Partners to embark on the next five years on solid footing. The health system’s operating income has been trending upward for the past three years, culminating in $485 million in operating income reported in fiscal 2019....

..."It's better to die standing than to live on your knees," he said, rinkside in full hockey gear, in an interview with state television. "This is a fridge, this is healthy, there is nothing better than sport, especially ice which is the real anti-viral medicine."

Belarus has officially reported 94 cases of coronavirus -- and no deaths -- but Lukashenko's critics have cast doubt on those statistics, warning that authorities there could be downplaying the numbers as the country gears up for a presidential election later this year.

Lukashenko has made his own recommendations to combat the virus, suggesting that Belarusians should drink vodka to "poison the virus," or attend a banya...

..."I liked his recent statements very much," Lukashenko said of Trump, during a visit to a plaster plant last week, according to an official transcript. "He said, 'If we do not immediately return to enterprises and start working, then much more Americans will die from unemployment than from coronavirus.' Now you understand why I didn't close the factories."...

..."It's better to die standing than to live on your knees," he said, rinkside in full hockey gear, in an interview with state television. "This is a fridge, this is healthy, there is nothing better than sport, especially ice which is the real anti-viral medicine."

Belarus has officially reported 94 cases of coronavirus -- and no deaths -- but Lukashenko's critics have cast doubt on those statistics, warning that authorities there could be downplaying the numbers as the country gears up for a presidential election later this year.

Lukashenko has made his own recommendations to combat the virus, suggesting that Belarusians should drink vodka to "poison the virus," or attend a banya...

..."I liked his recent statements very much," Lukashenko said of Trump, during a visit to a plaster plant last week, according to an official transcript. "He said, 'If we do not immediately return to enterprises and start working, then much more Americans will die from unemployment than from coronavirus.' Now you understand why I didn't close the factories."...

Now this is some funny shit: Which Pathogen Wore It Better?

On days like today you have but to open an old copy of Private Eye.