HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Department of State announced on Thursday that it has issued 30 licensing waivers since March 17 to allow licensed professionals, facilities and trainees to respond to the COVID-19 disaster declaration.
“During this unprecedented emergency, the Department of State is committed to reducing as many burdens as possible for licensees to practice and serve Pennsylvanians,” Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said. “We’ve included a wide spectrum of professionals in these temporary waivers, recognizing that each professional we can empower to help is another critical part of the solution to ending this crisis.”
Among the changes in place during the COVID-19 emergency:
- Licensed health care practitioners may provide services via telemedicine
- Temporary licenses for out-of-state health care practitioners will be expedited
- Extended all upcoming license renewal deadlines including healthcare and non-healthcare professionals
- Recently retired health care practitioners may temporarily reactivate their licenses more easily and without reactivation fees
- Suspended certain in-person continuing-education requirements to allow increased use of online or distance learning
- Authorized the use of electronic notarization and loosened restrictions on in-person requirements for notaries handling estate documents such as wills, living wills, and powers of attorney, as well as other types
- Extended filing deadlines for charitable nonprofit organizations
“The Department of State is working with the governor’s office, the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services to identify additional requirements that can be suspended to give licensed professionals and others the flexibility they need during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Secretary Boockvar said.
The Department of State website will be updated regularly as additional requirement waiver information becomes available. Licensees with questions should contact their state licensing board via the email addresses on the Department of State website.
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