Are You In Compliance?

The California Department of Public Health on Sept. 17 ended the COVID-19 testing mandate for unvaccinated health care workers and other individuals in high-risk settings, which include dental offices.

Dentists who received Provider Relief Fund payments during period 3 are required to use those funds on eligible pandemic-related expenses by June 30 and report the use of those funds July 1-Sept. 30 if the payments exceeded $10,000. 

Dental-office staff in Los Angeles County, San Francisco and Berkeley are required to show proof of vaccination to work in or enter those facilities in accordance with local public health orders first issued in fall of 2021.

CDA has developed resources to help members comply with the California state order issued July 26 requiring health care workers either show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or submit to regular testing.

The July issue of the CDA Journal provides a COVID-19 vaccine toolkit with multiple resources dentists can use in their practice. New research on prosthesis design and TMJ is also explored. Read the digital issue.

The California Legislature approved a state budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year that upholds the will of the voters when they passed the Proposition 56 tobacco tax in 2016. The budget makes significant investments in Medi-Cal Dental improvements, workforce development and coronavirus relief. 

Update: The Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted to withdraw the revisions to its COVID-19 prevention emergency temporary standards that the board approved June 3 and sent to the OAL for review. The board met again June 17 and approved new changes to the standards that took effect the same day after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order.

Cal/OSHA's current regulations on COVID-19-related screening, testing and quarantining apply to dentists, dental team members and other health care workers in California who are fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, as well as to fully vaccinated patients who enter health care settings.

Dentists have contacted CDA Practice Support with questions about a letter they received from the California Department of Industrial Relations that provides “a list of critical requirements related to COVID-19” that may apply to the business owner and workplace. 

COVID-19’s impact on dentistry remains a top advocacy priority for CDA, and a new bill that CDA is co-sponsoring with the California Medical Association would help to safeguard health care providers’ financial stability during future state emergencies like the current pandemic.