Employment Law Report

Last week, Governor Andy Beshear and Kentucky’s Public Health Commissioner announced that, under Phase I of the healthcare facility reopening plan, non-urgent health care services that were suspended in March could gradually begin to restart on April 27 under certain conditions. On Monday, April 27, 2020, the Commissioner published guidance for the remaining phases of reopening:

a. Phase 1 – April 27, 2020 – Non-emergent/non-urgent outpatient healthcare services (not including surgery and invasive procedures) can resume

b. Phase 2 – May 6, 2020 – Outpatient/ambulatory surgery and invasive procedures may resume; acute care hospitals must maintain at least 30% in ICU and total bed capacity for COVID-19 patients

c. Phase 3 – May 13, 2020 – Inpatient non-emergent/non-urgent surgery and procedures may resume at 50% of pre-COVID-19 shutdown volume; acute care hospitals must maintain at least 30% in ICU and total bed capacity for COVID-19 patients

d. Phase 4 – May 27, 2020 - Inpatient non-emergent/non-urgent surgery and procedures may resume at the volume determined by each facility; acute care hospitals must maintain at least 30% in ICU and total bed capacity for COVID-19 patients