The staff shortage within the health care industry — exacerbated by factors from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — has hospitals and other health care organizations using new methods to recruit and retain medical professionals. In some cases, that includes hiring candidates before they’ve even completed their medical training.

CEDAR RAPIDS — As an employee at a long-term care facility, Pam Guilford was one of the first Iowans to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in February. At first, she was unsure is she wanted the new vaccine, Guilford admits. She wondered, are there long-term side effects we don’t know about? “I am not an anti-vaxxer,” Guilford said. “I think what annoys me is people who are hesitant about the vaccines, we’re calling them anti-vaxxers. That’s not the case.

Coffee Emporium is far from the only place for a Cedar Rapidian to get a caffeine fix. But the baristas have something that many of their counterparts at other coffee shops in Iowa might not have — 401(k) and retirement benefits. “It really doesn’t matter whether they’re a barista or a manager or whatever,” co-owner Abby White said. “They still have needs. They’re still human.