Governor Kathy Hochul has signed into law a provision allowing health care workers with out-of-state licenses to continue their practice in New York.
The law, designed to mitigate a long-standing health care worker shortage in the state, builds upon a now-expired executive order issued during the COVID pandemic, which permitted physicians and nurses to work in New York without an in-state license. It benefits those nurses who had been working in New York prior to the executive order’s expiration on May 22 and have already applied for a New York license, granting them an additional 180-day grace period to secure it.
The law aims to address the significant delays that health care professionals face when obtaining a New York license, a period during which they are barred from practicing.
The New York health care sector has been struggling with worker shortages, with burnout, vaccine requirements, and financial hardships cited as contributing factors.
Hochul’s strategy to counteract this shortage includes an ambitious plan to increase the number of healthcare workers in the state by 20% over the next five years.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].