Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order last week under which dentists are considered essential health care providers and are encouraged to join a statewide initiative to respond to COVID-19. Dr. Richard Nagy, CDA President, appeared on ABC 7 Los Angeles to share how dentists can join the effort, called the California Health Corps.
“The governor, a week ago, allowed the dentist to be part of the expanded workforce to be there to help during this extreme pandemic crisis that’s going on,” said Nagy in an interview. “So dentists can actually sign up and be part of the team to help triage, test, to give vaccinations when available, take vital signs—everything else that we’ve been trained to do to help out during this time. It’s very fortunate that we’re able to do that.”
California currently has 19,111 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from 16,957 cases just two days before.
“California’s health care workers are the heroes of this moment, serving on the front lines in the fight against this disease,” said Governor Newsom. “To treat the rising number of patients with COVID-19, our state needs more workers in the health care field to join the fight. If you have a background in health care, we need your help. Sign up at healthcorps.ca.gov.”
Dental assistants and registered dental hygienists can join the effort as well, according to the CDA. Recruits will be financially compensated and will be given malpractice insurance coverage for the care they provide.
