News
DC Ends Public Health Emergency - Now What?
On Saturday, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued Mayor's Order 2021-096 to update and extend the District's Public Emergency but end the District's Public Health Emergency. Both had been in effect since March 11, 2020.
The Mayor is continuing the public emergency to permit some flexibility in handling changes to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include continuing to receive federal reimbursement, adjusting government personnel, implementing preventative measures for medically vulnerable people, and establishing vaccination/mask requirements.
The end of the public health emergency does end a number of allowances to address the pandemic. Specific to medicine are two deadlines of note. First, healthcare professionals operating under the licensure waiver for DC Health have 60 days to continue operating before their permission expires. The intent is to allow providers time to apply for a full license, although MSDC has heard wait times for licenses often exceed this time. MSDC is working with other associations and DC Health to create new pathways to retain these providers. Second, the Certificate of Need waiver expires August 24.