The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Department of State (DOS) announced recently that a U.S. Army Reserve task force of 85 medical specialists has arrived in Pennsylvania to assist civilian health care professionals with the care of coronavirus patients. They will be deployed wherever they are needed.
The Army has mobilized 1,275 Reserve medical specialists into 15 Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces to reinforce civilian health care in areas that are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases. Each medical task force consists of 14 physicians, including an infectious disease specialist and four respiratory specialists; 16 medics; 13 nurses; five physician assistants; two dentists; four pharmacists; two clinical psychologists; one psychiatrist; two occupational therapy specialists; four dietitians and other supporting staff members who can perform low-triage care and test for COVID-19.
The first members of the unit arrived in Pennsylvania on April 16 to visit sites and coordinate with the commonwealth's departments of State, Health, Human Services, Military and Veterans Affairs, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. This advance visit ensured the full unit could move swiftly into action once they arrived. This task force will fall under the control of the dual status command recently established within the Pennsylvania National Guard.
The Department of State waived certain professional licensing requirements to ensure that these military medical professionals, who already hold a license in at least one state or a federal license from the United States Armed Forces, can lawfully provide medical and other health care services in Pennsylvania. The military occupational specialties of most members of the unit fall under existing Pennsylvania statutes that exempt them from the state's licensure requirements. This includes physicians, dietitians, registered nurses, psychologists, and occupational therapists.
For those specialists who did not immediately qualify under existing statutes and regulations, including practical nurses, dentists and pharmacists, DOS requested, and Gov. Wolf granted, a waiver to allow them to practice in Pennsylvania as long as they are employed by the armed forces, the U.S. Public Health Service, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or the federal government.
DOS also has waived any statutory or regulatory provisions that might prohibit a physician from delegating performance of medical services to medics and other technicians serving in the military. Such delegation will expand the pool of technicians available to work in hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and other facilities during the expected surge in COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania.
The DOS website http://www.dos.pa.gov/Pages/COVID-19-Waivers.aspx will be updated regularly as additional waiver information becomes available. Licensees with questions should contact their profession's board. Contact information is available at http://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/Pages/Board-Contacts.aspx.
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