PAGD Keystone Explorer Spring 2020

Keystone Explorer |  Spring 2020  3 executive director’s message | A Week in the Life Steve Neidlinger, CAE The week of March 23 was one to remember for Pennsylvania dentists. The threat of COVID-19 was already claiming damage from Pennsylvania’s practices, as offices were ordered by the Department of Health to discontinue any services that weren’t considered emergent or urgent. But then the plot thickened. Here’s how the week shaped up from my end: Sunday, March 22 Emails and texts were already flying from other membership associations that the Department of Health (DOH) was going to put out a guidance later that evening. Sure enough, when released, the guidelines were a tough pill. Care was not just restricted to emergent only, but special engineering controls (negative pressure rooms, HEPA filtration) and PPE that was impossible to find (N95 respirator masks) were now required. This was an effective closure for any dental office or clinic in Pennsylvania. As the guidance was released late Sunday night, there wasn’t much to do other than summarize, send to PAGD members, and wait for the storm to hit. Monday, March 23 The storm hit. PAGD members were calling and writing, rightly protesting and inquiring about what they should be doing. The only answer to give for the time being: Close your doors and call your patients. Many providers asked where they were to refer emergency cases. Most were advised to either contact their local hospital to see if they had the engineering controls needed (most don’t), and if they had openings to see emergency cases (most didn’t). Fortunate practices that were located near the border considered sending patients to colleagues in New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, or Ohio. Recognizing that action was necessary, I contacted PAGD’s President Scott Hudimac, President-Elect Leigh Jacopetti, and Vice President Ray Johnson. We drafted a letter with PAGD’s concerns, primarily that this would overwhelm hospitals in a difficult time for them and it would leave our patients’ oral health, and potentially lives, in danger. I was also in regular communication with my colleagues at PDA and the Pennsylvania Coalition of Oral Health. We had PDA’s letter in hand and were able to recraft our messaging to sync with theirs. With the help of PAGD’s lobbying counsel of Milliron Goodman, we got our concerns to the correct people at DOH. In the middle of it all, one of the planned distractions during this downtime was to offer webinars for members to catch up on their continuing education. PAGD was fortunate to have five friends step up, one for each day of the week, and Monday’s webinar featured an implant presentation with Dr. Zola Makrauer. Webinar hosting is not easy, as it coordinates a registration system, data entry into a webinar platform, and mitigating technical problems when we start. With the captive audience that was extended to all AGD constituents nationally, PAGD had its largest webinar audience ever of 78 participants. Tuesday, March 24 Our advocacy generated a response from DOH. Secretary Levine announced a teleconference specifically for dental providers, and PAGD leadership was invited to participate. As this would be a one-way call, PAGD was asked to submit questions ahead of time. The PAGD board was solicited to gather questions on behalf of PAGD. Complicating DOH’s position was a Health Alert Network (HAN) guidance sent Tuesday morning which set the rules for treating patients suspected of or testing positive for COVID-19. The rules for physicians and emergency rooms treating the infected “The combi- nation of a coordinated advocacy effort between organizations and a depart- ment willing to listen and compromise generated a victory for dentists and patients need- ing care, while still achieving the goal of mitigation by DOH.”