AHA today urged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to delay by six months its compliance dates for the recently announced COVID-19 Health Care Emergency Temporary Standard, thus giving hospitals and health systems ample time to implement the policy’s many new requirements.

“Changes in hospital policies and procedures are not simply a matter of changing words on paper; they require careful analysis and planning, the acquisition of needed materials and tools, and the retraining of personnel. For organizations that are already busy caring for their communities’ ill and injured, it will take time to accomplish all of these required changes,” AHA wrote. AHA also requested that OSHA extend the comment deadline for an additional 30 days, in order to ensure substantive and data-informed comments.

Related News Articles

Headline
A study published Oct. 30 by the American Heart Association found that people have an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke following flu and COVID-19…
Headline
There is still no clear end in sight to the government shutdown as today marks day 30 and is approaching the 35-day record that occurred in 2018-2019. Some…
Headline
The AHA today submitted a letter to the Office of Science and Technology Policy in response to its request for information on regulatory reform for artificial…
Chairperson's File
Public
This week brings the fourth week of the federal government shutdown as Congress has yet to pass legislation to fund the government. This shutdown is a bit…
Headline
The government shutdown is expected to continue into next week as the Senate is expected to adjourn Oct. 23 with no plans to vote this weekend. The chamber Oct…
Headline
The Senate Oct. 16 failed for a 10th time to advance the continuing resolution to extend government funding and end the ongoing shutdown. The chamber adjourned…