MD COVID-19 Hospitalizations Fall, Hogan Helps Medical Facilities

Maryland's COVID-19 situation has started to improve since metrics peaked in mid-January, but understaffed hospitals are still swamped. Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday signed an executive order to expand the health care workforce available to the state's medical facilities.

“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,” Hogan said in a press release. “All of the data continues to show very encouraging trends, with many of our key health metrics consistently and substantially declining."

Hogan's latest action:

• "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."

The full executive order is posted here.