Health Department enacts emergency rules as Gov. Kevin Stitt rejects COVID emergency order
Carmen FormanAs COVID-19 surges in Oklahoma, the state Health Department implemented emergency rules Thursday that will grant hospitals flexibility to see more COVID-19 patients and allow the agency to collect additional virus data from hospitals and testing labs.
The emergency rules will essentially allow the Health Department to do everything it was able to when the state was under an emergency declaration, but with one key difference: Gov. Kevin Stitt doesn't have to impose a state of emergency.
Stitt has said he doesn't intend to reinstate an emergency declaration despite increasing COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations largely due to the highly contagious delta variant.
The declaration gave the state additional flexibility to respond to the pandemic quickly without being hamstrung by bureaucratic processes.
In recent weeks, Health Department officials combed through the governor's executive orders pertaining to the pandemic and put items related to the agency in the emergency rules Stitt just approved, Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said at a Friday news conference.
"What we've done on our end is to make sure that we are able to respond just as if we had an emergency declaration in the state," Frye said
Stitt's emergency declaration required hospitals to submit to the Health Department data on the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19. The emergency rules include a similar mandate in addition to calling for hospitals to report "breakthrough" infections in vaccinated individuals and requiring COVID-19 testing labs to submit a percentage of specimens for variant testing.
The new rules also give hospitals flexibility to repurpose conference rooms or other unused spaces into patient rooms so more people can be admitted.
The Oklahoma Medical Board is also in the process of writing emergency rules to expedite medical licenses to get qualified individuals on the frontlines of the pandemic faster, Frye said.
Stitt's emergency order previously allowed the state to expedite medical credentials. The governor rescinded the state of emergency on May 3.
Saying hospitals are "feeling the crunch of low staffing," Frye said the agency is talking with the governor's office and the Oklahoma Hospital Association about steps to help health systems that are feeling the brunt of a widespread nursing shortage.
Hospitals across the state have reported having more patients than available beds as Oklahoma's COVID-19 numbers spike.
More:'There's no way to find a bed:' Oklahoma hospitals are running out of room amid COVID-19 surge
Frye talked generally about the state possibly working with a staffing company to entice out-of-state medical professionals to take jobs in Oklahoma.
The Hospital Association also is conducting a survey to determine staffing levels and true hospital capacity across the state, he said. The association led a similar survey earlier in the pandemic.
"We realize the number that we have from the previous surge is probably not the same as it is now because they've had nurses leave the state, they may have had people leave the profession," he said.
Frye and other health professionals also stressed that this most recent COVID-19 surge is predominantly affecting unvaccinated people. In Oklahoma, 98% of infections and 93% of hospitalizations due to the virus are among unvaccinated individuals, Frye said.
"I can't stress this enough," he said. "The best way for us to slow the current spread is for everyone to do their part and get vaccinated."