Today Governor Inslee announced that Washington State will be allowing nonemergency medical and dental procedures to begin, provided that the facilities performing these procedures meet certain criteria. If facilities cannot meet all the criteria “in good faith and with reasonable clinical judgment,” they cannot perform non-urgent care. The proclamation is retroactive to midnight, May 17, 2020, meaning this care can begin immediately if facilities are able to meet the state’s safety criteria. 

Facilities and practices must assess the COVID-19 status in their communities in collaboration with local health jurisdictions, and have a plan to expand or contract care to accommodate COVID-19 surges and to meet all the requisite criteria for a safe expansion of care. The criteria for expanding non-urgent procedures include: 

• Following the Department of Health’s personal protective equipment (PPE) conservation guidance, which will be regularly reviewed and updated by the DOH, as published on the DOH website 

• Having a formal employee feedback process for direct input regarding care delivery processes, PPE, and technology 

• Implementing policies for non-punitive sick leave that adhere to CDC’s return-to-work guidance 

• Maintaining strict social distancing in patient scheduling, check-in process, positioning, and movements within a facility 

• Using on-site fever screening and self-reporting of COVID-19 symptom screening for all patients, visitors, and staff 

• Continuously monitoring capacity in the system to ensure there are resources to address potential surges of COVID-19  

There is lots of additional criteria for reopening, but we want to reiterate what the governor made very clear: Facilities must have appropriate personal protective equipment for their workers and patients. If they aren’t able to procure enough PPE, they cannot open. 

Read the full document and familiarize yourself with all the guidelines here. 

We know many health care and dental workers are facing furloughs or lost hours, and many people in our community have put off getting medical and dental care during this pandemic, so we are glad to see the state looking at a safe reopening of health care facilities and expansion of procedures. But we join with other health care unions in strongly emphasizing the importance of adequate PPE and other worker and patient safety protocols. If health care workers are not safe, the health care system cannot function. 

In the coming days we will be creating resources for health care and dental workers to use when assessing their workplace’s compliance with the governor’s newest order. If you suspect your workplace is not complying with the state’s orders, you are asked to do something you feel is unsafe, or you have questions or concerns about your or your coworkers’ safety: please contact your Shop Steward or Union Rep as soon as you can, or email safetyreport@ufcw21.org with your name, workplace, safety concern, and contact info.