With rising concerns about health care staff shortages and the unprecedented spread of Covid-19, Vermont lawmakers may extend a policy that allows retired and out-of-state health care personnel to practice in Vermont.
Before the pandemic, medical providers could not practice without a valid Vermont medical license, and the process of obtaining one can take weeks.
But when the coronavirus crisis hit Vermont in March 2020, that tight regulatory setup went out the window. Act 6 allows providers who are licensed in other states to work in Vermont and allows retirees to return to practice much faster than normal.
The law also touches many other aspects of health care, from paying for Covid-19 care to allowing pharmacists to administer nose swabs.
The law expires in March, but an informal coalition of health care advocates is pushing for a one-year extension.
Act 6 makes it easier for traveling staff — often nurses from other states — to work in Vermont. Medical personnel who land a permanent job in Vermont could, in theory, begin work almost immediately. And it allows medical staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer support to hospitals as soon as they arrive.
But that speedy process could lead to concerns about patient safety, said Lauren Hibbert, director of the Office of Professional Regulation, which oversees professional licensing.
“I like to know who’s working in Vermont,” she said Wednesday at a joint meeting of the House Committee on Health and the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “I’d like patients to know who’s working in Vermont. And I also think that the state should have appropriate regulatory control over people who work in Vermont.”
But Jill Massa Olson, speaking for a coalition that includes hospitals and provider associations, said the state’s staffing crunch is worse than it has ever been, and Act 6 has been a crucial remedy.
“I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the stress on the ground and the need for flexibility,” said Mazza Olson, who is executive director of VNAs of Vermont, a nonprofit organization of visiting nurse associations. “If this flexibility means one more nurse in one more place for one more day, we need that.”
Vermont’s health care staffing shortage is nearing a crisis point, as hospital beds and emergency rooms are filling up quickly with the advent of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The Covid-19 crisis has forced a slew of canceled or delayed surgeries, long wait times at emergency rooms and a shortage of available hospital beds.
Legislators said they want to extend the law well before the March 31 expiration date and indicated that some Act 6 provisions could become permanent.
“I think we’re in — for unfortunate reasons — a unique moment to reset,” said Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln, who is a registered nurse.
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