New solution designed to help streamline healthcare provider onboarding and better safeguard patient care

ATLANTA, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Equifax® (NYSE:EFX) today announced the launch of Healthcare Report™ Credential ID, an automated screening solution designed to help streamline healthcare credentialing verification and the employment decisioning process. The solution provides primary source verification of healthcare professional license and certification data available alongside identity information from Equifax to help healthcare facilities accelerate provider onboarding and better safeguard patient safety.

The traditional process for verifying healthcare provider credentials typically relies on manual methods, which can place an administrative burden on staff and cause delays in onboarding critical patient-facing hires. With projected shortages of more than 106,000 physicians and 267,000 registered nurses in 2027 — which are expected to grow in the next decade — automated verifications can help organizations put qualified healthcare professionals to work faster and ultimately accelerate patient access to care.

“In a healthcare environment facing a high demand for doctors and nurses, hospitals face the daunting task of accelerating provider onboarding,” said Bart Lautenbach, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Talent Solutions, Equifax Workforce Solutions. “The administrative burden of manual verifications can often stall the start dates of critical patient-facing hires. Healthcare Report Credential ID enables background screeners and healthcare employers to facilitate a more efficient onboarding process for healthcare employers, helping to ensure that facilities have the workforce they need to deliver trusted, higher-quality care.”

Healthcare Report Credential ID provides license and certification verification information in a consumer report governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The final report output delivers essential license and certification data for candidate credentialing and decisioning. Where available, this data includes license type, status, and expiration date, providing broad scale, more comprehensive healthcare workforce coverage. 

Healthcare Report Credential ID also includes Equifax identity data, which is provided alongside the license and certification verification consumer report. The solution checks the identity information provided by the applicant against the requested license or certification and Equifax identity data, which can potentially assist with fraud detection.

Healthcare Report Credential ID joins a suite of Equifax solutions designed to help streamline the pre-hire process. This includes tools for employment and education verifications, as well as solutions to help streamline the criminal background check process. For more information about Healthcare Report Credential ID, click here.

ABOUT EQUIFAX INC.
At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by nearly 15,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dan Jenkins for Equifax Workforce Solutions
mediainquiries@equifax.com

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SOURCE Equifax Inc.

75 Grants Support Local Wildfire Prevention, Preparedness and Emergency Response Efforts

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — With wildfire season a year-round reality in California, sustained prevention and preparedness efforts remain essential for communities throughout the state. To strengthen these ongoing preparedness efforts, the California Fire Foundation (CFF), with support from The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation), has awarded $1 million in wildfire safety grants to 75 local fire departments, fire agencies and nonprofit organizations in Northern and Central California.

This is the ninth year CFF and the PG&E Foundation have partnered to award grants to help communities bolster their disaster preparedness and response programs. This year, the PG&E Foundation committed an additional $50,000 to enhance the grant program and provide more community funding.

CFF reviewed over 200 submissions during a month-long application window and distributed the annual wildfire safety grants to agencies in high wildfire-risk areas. The grant awards come during National Preparedness Month, observed each September to raise awareness of preparing for disasters and emergencies.

The grants will be used to purchase personal protective and specialized equipment for firefighters, complete defensible space and vegetation management work, reduce fuels and hazards, and conduct fire safety public education and outreach. See the list of grant recipients. 

The PG&E Foundation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) support CFF’s broader 2026 Wildfire Safety and Preparedness Program (WSPP) with $1.8 million in charitable funding. The Wildfire Safety Grants make up $1M of the total charitable funding provided. The program works to raise awareness about wildfire safety throughout California and deliver resources to underserved communities in high fire-risk areas. The grants to local organizations are a core component of the WSPP, funding also supports CFF’s public safety education and outreach multimedia campaign in a variety of languages.

“California’s firefighters and local agencies work every day to protect lives, homes and communities from a wildfire threat that does not follow a traditional season,” said Darrell Roberts, Chair of the California Fire Foundation. “We congratulate these dedicated grantees for their continued work in preparedness and service, especially as warmer-than-normal conditions reinforce the need to remain vigilant across the state. For nearly a decade, our partnership with the PG&E Foundation has helped local agencies secure critical equipment, reduce hazardous vegetation, strengthen public education and better prepare the communities they serve.”

Since 2018, 505 grantees that include fire departments and fire agencies statewide have received $6.5 million in direct funding through the grant program as part of WSPP, and each year the program receives more applications than the prior year. Funding targets specific communities identified as having extreme or elevated fire risk by the California Public Utilities Commission High Fire-Threat District map. PG&E and the PG&E Foundation have provided $12.25 million in total support for fire safety awareness through the WSPP since the partnership began, with more than half the funding supporting community-based grants. The charitable contribution is shareholder-funded, not paid for by PG&E customers.

“Safety and our customers are at the heart of our partnership with the California Fire Foundation,” said Sumeet Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Executive Vice President of Energy Delivery. “Behind every grant is the ability to better protect families, support firefighters, and strengthen preparedness and response when it matters most. Disasters do not stop at city or county lines, and neither does our commitment to one another. Together, we are deepening local partnerships and building a stronger network dedicated to protecting the families, neighborhoods, and hometowns we are privileged to serve.”

The WSPP focuses on two key areas to help keep communities safe:

A wildfire safety campaign that features fire safety education, developed by CFF, in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hmong to promote early evacuation during fires. The WSPP has worked diligently to overcome language barriers by developing and distributing in-language fire-safety messaging. This campaign includes advertising on radio, television and digital ads, as well as outdoor billboards in high fire-threat areas.A grant program administered by the CFF through an application process. The CFF awards grants to recipient fire departments, agencies and community groups in support of projects and programs focusing on wildfire/disaster prevention, preparedness and/or relief and recovery assistance.

How the WSPP Helps Communities

Grant funding this year supports projects benefitting 4.2 million residents in 36 counties and include::

Over 2,000 pieces of personal protection equipment such as helmets, boots, gloves, goggles, and fire sheltersOver 600 pieces of specialized equipment including water storage tanks, portable radios, headlamps, hoses/clamps/nozzles, chainsaws and gear packs Fuel reductions/vegetation management:Multiple acres of hazardous tree and brush removal including over 80 acres of vegetation thinningHundreds of thousands of pounds of tree limbs, branches and other combustibles chipping and haulingHundreds of prescribed fires or pile burnsMultiple community safety projects supporting Fuel or Shaded Fuel Breaks and Ingress/Egress Routes

The CFF’s Firefighters on Your Side program, also supported by PG&E, provides multilingual, culturally relevant fire safety messaging in both digital and print form, to assist the public in staying safe.

About The PG&E Corporation Foundation
The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation.

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

About California Fire Foundation
The California Fire Foundation, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, provides emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters, firefighters and the communities they protect. Formed in 1987 by California Professional Firefighters, the California Fire Foundation’s mandate includes an array of survivor and victim assistance projects and community initiatives. cafirefoundation.org

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SOURCE PG&E Corporation

PINE BLUFF, Ark., Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ: SFNC) (Simmons or Company) today announced it will host an Investor Day on Thursday, December 10, 2026, in New York City. Simmons president and CEO, Jay Brogdon, and CFO Daniel Hobbs, along with other members of the executive leadership team, will present the Company’s strategic priorities and plans for the future. The program will begin at approximately 8:25 a.m. ET.

A live webcast of the event and presentation materials will be available on Simmons’ Investor Relations website at https://ir.simmonsbank.com. Attendance in person is for institutional investors and analysts, by invitation only. Shortly after the event concludes, archived copies of the webcast and corresponding presentation materials will be available on Simmons’ Investor Relations website and will remain available for at least 60 days following the date of the event.

Simmons First National Corporation
Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ: SFNC) is a Mid-South based financial holding company that has paid cash dividends to its shareholders for 117 consecutive years. Its principal subsidiary, Simmons Bank, operates 220 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Founded in 1903, Simmons Bank offers comprehensive financial solutions delivered with a client-centric approach. Recently, Simmons Bank was recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Best Regional Banks and Credit Unions 2026 and by Forbes as one of America’s Best-In-State Companies 2026. In 2025, Simmons Bank was recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces 2025 in Arkansas and one of America’s Best Regional Banks 2025, and by U.S. News & World Report as one of the 2024-2025 Best Companies to Work For in the South. Additional information about Simmons Bank can be found on our website at simmonsbank.com, by following @Simmons_Bank on X or by visiting our newsroom.

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SOURCE Simmons First National Corporation