In response to All Facilities Letter 20-26.11 from the California Department of Public Health on the extension of the space waiver to March 31, 2022, the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), formerly known as the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, has released a notice to health care facilities about temporary changes to accommodate additional patients during the COVID-19 state of emergency.
Temporary changes of use or modification to the physical environment must be restored to the original conditions by May 12, 2022, six weeks after the expiration of AFL 20-26.11 on March 31, 2022, and must be reported to HCAI. Where such temporary changes are to be made permanent, projects must be submitted to HCAI for review and approval immediately.
In addition, HCAI notes that if air pressure adjustments were made to specific rooms or areas, these areas will require documentation to show what the rooms were prior to the alteration and plans to return them to previous compliant conditions.
For any questions about the notice, contact your region’s plan review supervisor or regional compliance officer.