ENROLLED ORIGINAL
A RESOLUTION
24-228
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
August 10, 2021
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Uniform
Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act of 2010 to allow qualified volunteer
health practitioners and licensed health care providers to practice in the District,
notwithstanding any other provision of law or the existence of an emergency declaration,
until December 31, 2021, to the extent authorized by Department of Health
Administrative Order 2020-02.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Emergency
Declaration Resolution of 2021.
Sec. 2. (a) During the public health emergency, the Mayor and the Department of Health
waived some licensure requirements that allowed healthcare providers to increase their staffing
with healthcare professionals licensed outside of the District.
(b) On July 25, 2021, the Mayor did not renew the public health emergency and the
licensure waiver is slated to expire 60 days after the expiration of the public health emergency,
on September 23, 2021.
(c) Healthcare providers, such as the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, the DC
Primary Care Association, the District of Columbia Hospital Association, and the District of
Columbia Health Care Association, are finding significant wait times for District licensure
application approvals that go beyond the 60-day transitional period.
(d) There is a concern that, once the licensure waiver period ends, the backlog in
licensure applications and corresponding delay in getting new licenses approved will create
barriers to service, including losing current healthcare professionals who have been servicing
District residents throughout the public health emergency.
(e) Having reliable and sufficient healthcare is essential for keeping District residents safe
and healthy. A return to prior licensure requirements for local healthcare providers without a
longer transition period could create loss of healthcare access for residents while the District is
still threatened by not only COVID-19, but variants that have made the virus 3 times more
transmissible and resistant to some of the previous successful methods of treatment.
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 ENROLLED ORIGINAL
(f) Without emergency action by the Council, the District will lose many healthcare
professionals that it has relied upon to ensure sufficient staffing during the public health
emergency.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the
Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 be
adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
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