In a seven-month period in 2020, Wisconsin approved licenses for 556 out-of-state health care professionals. These doctors, nurses, physician assistants and others served Wisconsin patients through telehealth, a form of virtual health care that has exploded in popularity and usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through separate emergency orders, Gov. Tony Evers allowed for qualified health care providers licensed in other states to serve Wisconsinites through telehealth without obtaining a Wisconsin license. This means providers licensed throughout the country could administer health care through audio or video communication to Badger State residents without either party having to leave their office or home.

The results were impressive and suggest that the policy should be made permanent. An occupational license should not be a barrier for qualified professionals looking to practice and serve in Wisconsin — whether in-person or virtually. 

By JULIE GRACE | December 7, 2020

Since the start of the pandemic, Wisconsin has made it much easier for out-of-state health care professionals to practice and serve patients in the Badger State. Obtaining an occupational license is typically a time-consuming, costly and burdensome process, but all of that has changed in the past few months — at least temporarily.

Through legislation and executive orders, the state has allowed health care providers who are licensed and in good standing in another state to receive a temporary Wisconsin license during the COVID-19 crisis.

According to the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS), the state’s licensing agency, Wisconsin received 1,177 total applications from health care professionals looking to practice here between April 1 and Oct. 31. The agency granted 937 of those.

Dr. Marni Feuerman, a licensed clinical social worker from Florida, was one of them.
 

By MARK LISHERON | November 19, 2020

Milwaukee is trapped on a streetcar going nowhere.

Ridership on The Hop, as the two-year-old, $128 million trolley system is called, has plummeted. Government funding and private sponsorships are drying up. The city soon will be drawing from existing revenue sources to cover the millions of dollars in operating losses.

A vocal alderman is trying to warn about the long-term financial burdens, while the response from most city officials is to press on and maybe, when the political climate is more receptive, expand the streetcar system. Because, as Commissioner of Public Works Jeff Polenske pointed out in a recent memo to the Common Council, The Hop is simply too expensive to stop.

Read more here.

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