Governor Announces Non-Urgent Dental Care May Resume
This afternoon, Governor Inslee announced that non-urgent dental and medical care could resume, provided the criteria laid out in Proclamation 20-24.1: Reducing restrictions on, and safe expansion of non-urgent medical and dental procedures are met. The criteria listed in Proclamation 20-24.1 are the result of a collaborative effort with the Governor’s office, Department of Health, health care providers, including WSDA leadership, and others.
As a dentist, you will need to meet the applicable criteria laid out in Proclamation 20-24.1, as well as evaluate your own readiness in conjunction with your community’s COVID-19 activity to determine whether to resume non-urgent care. You will also need to maintain certain standards, such as sufficient PPE, in order to continue providing care.
We understand there is a substantial amount of information in Proclamation 20-24.1 to digest, so please know that we will be providing a detailed summary as well as relevant resources tomorrow.
WSDA Distributes Free KN95 & Surgical Masks to Washington Dentists
Over the last three days, WSDA and local dental societies across the state distributed nearly 300,000 free KN95 and surgical masks to Washington dentists. Thank you to the dozens of volunteers from the WSDA membership, WSDA Board of Directors, Seattle-King County Dental Society, Washington Academy of General Dentistry, and Delta Dental of Washington who assisted WSDA in packing and distributing masks.
The drive-through pick-up event for King and Snohomish county dentists, held Saturday at the WSDA office in Seattle, attracted several local media outlets. Watch media coverage of the event from KOMO News and KIRO 7 News.
Each actively practicing licensed Washington dentist is eligible to receive one bag of 50 masks (25 KN95, 25 surgical). If you were not able to claim your bag of masks, please visit wsda.org/PPE for more information on how to pick them up in your area.
Delta Communication
We wanted to make sure that you saw this letter from Mark Mitchke, Delta Dental of Washington’s President and CEO. It outlines Delta’s efforts on the following issues:
- Second Wave of Financial Support
- Support with PPE Availability and Affordability
- Increase Patient Messaging
- Interim Policies & Guidance
Sincerely,
Dr. Dennis Bradshaw
WSDA President
