Nurses, No Poach Agreements and Antitrust: The Sherman Act Statute of Limitations Will Outlast the Pandemic

https://khn.org/news/highly-paid-traveling-nurses-fill-staffing-shortages-during-covid-pandemic/

The COVID wave is putting severe strains on hospital systems, which appear to be limited in their ability to treat critical cases due to lack critical personnel rather than bed capacity. This article from Kaiser Health News about nursing shortages is alarming for a number of reasons, one of which is antitrust. 

Agreements among competitors, including hospitals, to limit the wages they pay to nurses, can be illegal under the antitrust laws and has the potential to be prosecuted criminally under the right circumstances. Hospitals and their trade associations should be careful about how they collaborate to share resources in order to meet the needs of their communities. They should be even more cautious about agreeing not to "poach" each others nurses -- today's exigent circumstances may not be a free pass even though we're in the middle of a once-a-century crisis. 

Using the antitrust laws to protect workers is a hot topic right now, and likely to stay a priority for the new administration and allies in congress. Hospitals just trying to survive the onslaught of cases will be understandably focused on getting the right resources to the right places in order to save lives. That said, an agreement to limit wages could wind up being a costly legal issue down the road.