By Richard A. West
On April 3, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that the State Division of Consumer Affairs has created a streamlined process to permit retired New Jersey healthcare professionals to reactivate their licenses in order to participate in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The action comes as the state seeks to expand its healthcare capacity in response to emergency demand.
Recent retirees (five years or less in retirement) are encouraged to return to practice on a temporary, emergency basis. Governor Philip D. Murphy also issued an executive order to supplement the state’s existing health care workforce by authorizing the temporary licensure in New Jersey of certain doctors who are licensed in foreign countries while temporarily relaxing scope-of-practice restrictions on Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) so they can practice more independently during the COVID-19 emergency.
About 50,000 retired New Jersey healthcare professionals may now be eligible for temporary emergency licenses, including more than 11,000 physicians, over 900 respiratory care practitioners and tens of thousands of nurses and thousands of mental health professionals. Eligible retirees can reactivate their licenses on the Division’s website by completing a simple form. The Division aims to process each application within one day of submission.
For now, eligibility is limited to practitioners from some of the fields where reinforcements are most needed, including:
- Physicians
- Respiratory Care Therapists
- Physician Assistants
- Advanced Practice Nurses
- Registered Professional Nurses
- Licensed Practical Nurses
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Professional Counselors
- Rehabilitation Counselors
- Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselors
- State Certified Psychoanalysts
- Psychologists
- Licensed Clinical Social Workers
- Licensed Social Workers
- Certified Social Workers
- Midwives
Other retirees interested in returning to practice to support New Jersey’s COVID-19 response can go through the usual reactivation process. Additional information for retirees interested in returning to practice is available in guidance issued by the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs.
BMK has been advising licensed professionals in recent weeks with to regard to myriad issues arising from the COVID-19 crisis. Should you have a question, please contact Brown Moskowitz & Kallen partner Richard A. West at (973) 376-0909 ext. 1126 or mobile: (973) 229-7928, with specific questions or concerns.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and does not constitute, legal advice.