I am sure you have heard about the damage Covid-19 has done to employment in the US. Millions of jobs disappeared when Covid closed businesses, schools and most public events. In the healthcare field, the job opportunities actually increased, but many caregivers left the field because of Covid fears, loss of daycare, caring for their own family members, and many other good reasons. This has put increasing pressure on hospitals, nursing facilities and in-home care providers like BrightStar.
BrightStar, like every other healthcare provider, has increased its recruiting and retention efforts. We have added incentives and creative promotional programs. We have had to increase our rates on some of our services, painfully aware of the burden this places on our senior clients.
Unfortunately, despite the increased incentives, our recruiting efforts are not generating the results we would hope or expect. Whether it is fear of Covid, lack of childcare or generous unemployment benefits, we have a lot of unfilled caregiver positions. As a result, we are forced to be much more selective about the new clients we accept. As much as I hate to admit it, we even occasionally miss shifts when we have last minute cancellations. It is a very challenging time in the home care business.
I am hopeful that as more and more are vaccinated, Covid restrictions are relaxed and unemployment benefits expire, we will see our caregivers return in pre-Covid numbers and we can once again help more people. In the meantime, I want to thank our loyal caregivers who have continued to care for their clients during this pandemic and to our understanding and loyal clients who have hung in there with us through this difficult period. Please keep up the good work. We will weather this anomaly. We appreciate you all and look forward to getting back to normal soon.
BrightStar, like every other healthcare provider, has increased its recruiting and retention efforts. We have added incentives and creative promotional programs. We have had to increase our rates on some of our services, painfully aware of the burden this places on our senior clients.
Unfortunately, despite the increased incentives, our recruiting efforts are not generating the results we would hope or expect. Whether it is fear of Covid, lack of childcare or generous unemployment benefits, we have a lot of unfilled caregiver positions. As a result, we are forced to be much more selective about the new clients we accept. As much as I hate to admit it, we even occasionally miss shifts when we have last minute cancellations. It is a very challenging time in the home care business.
I am hopeful that as more and more are vaccinated, Covid restrictions are relaxed and unemployment benefits expire, we will see our caregivers return in pre-Covid numbers and we can once again help more people. In the meantime, I want to thank our loyal caregivers who have continued to care for their clients during this pandemic and to our understanding and loyal clients who have hung in there with us through this difficult period. Please keep up the good work. We will weather this anomaly. We appreciate you all and look forward to getting back to normal soon.