Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order yesterday that “all licensed health care professionals and all licensed health care facilities shall postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition of, or to preserve the life of, a patient who without immediate performance of the surgery or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences or death, as determined by the patient’s physician. PROVIDED, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to any procedure that, if performed in accordance with the commonly accepted standard of clinical practice, would not deplete the hospital capacity or the personal protective equipment needed to cope with the COVID- 19 disaster.”
Order in force until after April 21
This order is now in force and will continue until after 11:59 PM April 21. A copy is below.
Dental providers need to treat emergency cases
The order which primarily addressed the need to keep hospital beds open means, according to the TSBDE, that “it is imperative that dental clinicians care for emergency patients in a timely manner rather than referring them to emergency facilities. The governor also pointed out in his comments that violation of executive orders could lead to potential fines and even jail time for those who do not comply.”
What constitutes emergency dental treatment
The ADA has outlined what it considers to be emergency treatment situations That document can be downloaded below.
I’m an employee at Westbrook Dental Lad. in Richardson Texas. The management team at Westbrook a Microdental Laboratory are saying, we fall under the Essential Healthcare Lab Service so we are still open. While all other lab in surrounding city are closing. My concern is should we still be open.
Thank You
You will need to check with Texas HHS or some other healthcare authority.