With a growing number of residents needing treatment at New Jersey hospitals for COVID-19, Assembly Democrats Nicholas Chiaravalloti, James Kennedy and Shanique Speight sponsor legislation to expedite the reactivation of retired and inactive medical professionals’ occupational licenses. The amended bill passed the full Assembly Monday, 79-0, and will now return to the Governor on concurrence with his recommendations.
This legislation (A-3901) is complementary to another bill (A-3862) recently signed into law that expedites the licensure of medical professionals from other states coming to New Jersey to assist with the current health emergency. Both measures are in response to an increased need for health care professionals to help deal with the influx of patients with COVID-19.
Upon passage of the bill, Assembly members Chiaravalloti (D-Hudson), Kennedy (D-Middlesex, Somerset and Union) and Speight (D-Essex) released the following joint statement:
“We know the number of residents in our hospitals with COVID-19 is in the thousands. Although we are doing everything we can to spread out the amount of COVID-19 cases over a longer period of time to prevent the healthcare system from becoming further overwhelmed, many hospitals still need additional staff members to help deal with the large number of patients they treat each day.
“By waiving the usual requirements to relicense a retired or inactive medical provider, we can get these experienced professionals back in the field a lot sooner to help deal with this crisis.
“Our healthcare providers are working hard every day to save the lives of New Jersey residents during this trying time. We are waging a war against the coronavirus, which means our state must be able to provide reinforcements to the people on the frontlines of this fight.”