Gov. Charlie Baker is taking steps to shield doctors, nurses and some health care facilities on the front lines from liability as a possible surge in coronavirus cases is expected.
Existing federal and state laws already provide some protections to health care workers and volunteers against civil lawsuits, but a bill Baker filed Wednesday “would provide broader liability protections appropriate to the scope of the challenge our health care providers are confronting,” Baker wrote in a letter urging legislators to act quickly.
“During this pandemic, we’re in unprecedented times where our providers may be asked to make difficult choices and we’re asking them to operate in conditions that they’ve never planned for. We need to make sure that fear of getting sued doesn’t prevent them from being able to do what they need to do to treat as many people as possible,” Baker said at a press conference Wednesday at the State House.
In addition to doctors and nurses, the bill would also protect EMTs and facilities like the field hospitals at Worcester’s DCU Center and South Boston’s convention center.