Monday, Governor Larry Hogan enacted an executive order expanding the state’s efforts to support health care facilities in addressing staffing shortages. In addition, the state’s health metrics continue to substantially improve, with COVID-19 hospitalizations dropping at the fastest rate in the United States.
“We continue to take short-term actions to support our health care workforce as it deals with the Omicron wave and the influx of unvaccinated patients,” said Governor Hogan. “All of the data continues to show very encouraging trends, with many of our key health metrics consistently and substantially declining. We ask Marylanders to remain vigilant, to keep doing the things that can keep us safe, and to get boosted for maximum protection against these variants.”
According to the Governor’s press release, the executive order does the following:
- Provides more licensing flexibility for pharmacists and technicians to help support the pharmacy workforce. Pharmacies are conducting a number of critical COVID-19 functions, including testing and vaccination clinics.
- Expands the state’s initiative to allow nursing students to serve as licensed practitioners by also including Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), and Certified Medical Technicians (CMTs).
- Allows respiratory therapy students to assist in augmenting the emergency medical services (EMS) workforce.
