As WSDA has communicated, we have been involved in a task force for “Restarting Washington Healthcare” established by Governor Jay Inslee’s office. The focus of the task force was establishing next steps for providing health care in Washington when Proclamation 20-24 expires by developing guidelines that address providing ongoing health care during the pandemic. Based on the work of the task force, which included the Governor’s advisors, it is anticipated that non-urgent dental care can resume at noon on Monday, May 18.

The guidelines developed by this task force will be finalized within the next couple of days. Following their finalization, they will be released in the form of a new proclamation from the Governor on Monday. It will be imperative that you review these guidelines with your team before providing care. While emphasizing the exercise of clinical judgment by dentists, the guidelines are expected to address a variety of considerations such as PPE conservation, patient screening, COVID-19 testing, and delivery processes.

We understand there is frustration that reopening guidelines are not yet available; this process is outside of our control. We will send out the finalized guidelines as soon as we can.

Sincerely,