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Health Care Capacity Surge Strategies, Jennifer L. Wenhold

Florida Public Health Review

While streamlining emergency powers might offer some advantages, recent events demonstrate how Florida’s Department of Health worked collaboratively to address the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As Florida began experiencing a need for increased health care capacity, Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) officials reviewed health care practitioners’ licensing and regulatory framework to identify mitigation strategies to boost staffing of front-line responders where needed. Florida officials responded quickly to the spread of COVID-19 and adopted health care workforce strategies that were grouped into three categories: (1) those involving licensed practitioners, (2) those involving soon-to-be licensed practitioners, and (3) those …