The state issued a public health order Monday meant to help hospitals deal with the latest wave of COVID-19 patients.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will extend the easing of certification and licensing requirements for out-of-state health care workers through the end of the year.
Additionally, according to the health order, hospitals will also have regulatory flexibility to make space for more patients. The state Department of Public Health ordered hospitals to accept transfer patients from facilities with limited ICU capacity "when clinically appropriate."
California's public health officer, Dr. Tomás Aragón, said the goal is to "ensure the state's health care delivery system is prepared and can respond should the situation worsen."
Cathy Chidester, the director of Los Angeles County's Emergency Medical Services Agency, told KNX last week that local hospitals were under strain again, with ambulance diversion hours and patient offload times going up.
“We're beginning to see that staffing is going to be a huge issue," said Chidester.
Statewide, there are currently well over 7,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
That's less than a third of the hospitalizations that took place during the worst of the winter surge but close to the peak of last summer's surge.
The public health order is available to read here.