The COVID-19 federal public health emergency will end in the U.S. on Thursday night.The emergency was declared Jan. 31, 2020, but the Biden administration is not renewing it.Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health held an employee appreciation event to mark the end of the emergency.But the end of the emergency also means change and an opportunity to take lessons learned and carry them forward in terms of treatment and care.
'We could transition patients to skilled nursing facilities faster than having them wait in the hospital,' Ripchinski said.At the height of the pandemic, federal money allowed Lancaster General Health to set up a mass vaccine clinic and administer a quarter of a million shots. Later, it opened an emergency testing site. Those services now come at a cost.'For those that may not have insurance, maybe underinsured, we have self-pay policies, and we also have assistance policies.