Dear Governor Wolf,
The Pennsylvania Health Policy Coalition was established to represent the interests of Pennsylvania’s local health departments. We write to request your assistance in extending the capacity of the healthcare workforce in helping to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we call on you to issue an Executive Order granting immunity from civil liability to licensed healthcare workers providing care during this public health emergency.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a public health emergency that is rapidly altering the provision of healthcare services across the state. While liability protections exist for non-volunteer healthcare professionals, similar protections do not exist for employed and contracted professionals who volunteer to treat patients during the emergency. As a result, states have begun extending liability protection to employed or contracted health care professionals through state orders. For example, Governor Cuomo of New York recently issued an order to provide immunity from civil liability to certain healthcare professionals for any injury or death alleged to have been sustained directly as a result of an act or omission by such professional in providing medical services during the pandemic, unless such injury or death was caused by the professional’s gross negligence.