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The PA Workforce Coalition is conducting a workshop next week (on two different days/times) that are repeated for you convenience. Please join us for the presentation from nationally renowned experts in the field and a discussion afterwards. Please see the flyer with the details and registration links.
On behalf of the PA Workforce Coalition, we look forward to seeing you next week and working with you in the future.
Rep. Carrie Lewis DelRosso introduced legislation yesterday that would require the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to promulgate regulations in any of the following instances that affect licensed drug and alcohol treatment providers:
The legislation includes any proposed regulatory requirement not currently in effect or any regulatory requirement that the General Assembly has delayed through legislation, meaning the PA-specific requirements of the ASAM transition could not be implemented until approved through a regulatory review process.
The House Human Services Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill Tuesday, October 26. Rep. Frank Farry, Chairman of the Committee, is a co-sponsor of the bill.
If the bill becomes law before January 1, it would bring much needed relief to a treatment system already struggling with major workforce issues and chronic underfunding.
Contact Jason Snyder, Director of RCPA’s Drug and Alcohol Division, with any questions.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has again issued the renewal of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) due to the continued consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The renewal became effective on October 18, 2021 and will extend the PHE into early 2022. This PHE status enables the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to keep all applicable waivers in place.
As vaccinations and/or testing of employees becomes more of a requirement for many of our members, there will also be a need to develop policies for the implementation of these requirements. Philadelphia providers have already been forced to deal with this situation, and others are preparing, or have already decided to implement, mandatory vaccine protocols for their employees.
We are trying to gather as much information as possible to help all of our members handle this new demand, including determining what testing will be acceptable to meet the mandate in lieu of vaccinations, who the mandates will apply to, and what are acceptable reasons for exemption from a vaccination mandate.
RCPA is requesting that those who have developed polices and who are willing to share those policies send them to RCPA HR Committee staff so that others may learn from your experiences. We will make these available to other members only and will share them in whatever format you choose to send them (with or without your agency name).
Thank you in advance to any members who are willing to share your policies.