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Patients will be allowed to use curbside pickup for medical marijuana at alternative treatment centers, the state Department of Health announced, ridding them of the need to go inside a dispensary during the coronavirus outbreak.

But the dispensaries do not have to offer the service, and getting it up and running will take time. Meanwhile, all 12 operational and pending licensed medical marijuana businesses signed a joint statement, saying they were working out technology to schedule appointments and implement curbside dispensing.

“I’m really so encouraged that everyone is coming to this table with a wonderful spirit of collaboration and desire to work together on behalf of the patients,” said Susanna Short, a consultant who released the statement on behalf of the dispensaries.

Patients have waited hours in line at dispensaries as some have rushed to stock up on cannabis in case they become quarantined as COVID-19 cases rise in New Jersey. Some, who are immunocompromised or have other underlying health conditions, have said they worry about following dozens of other patients into the storefronts amid the outbreak.

Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus, which closed temporarily March 22 after patients hit its supply hard, plans to launch a curbside option that allows patients to schedule orders ahead of time, said CEO Shaya Brodchandel.

When they arrive at the dispensary, patients can stay in their vehicles and wait for staff to deliver orders. There’s no timeline, Brodchanel said, but they hope to have the service running “as soon as possible.”

But David Knowlton, chairman of the board of Compassionate Care Foundation, said he does not plan to offer curbside pickup at the company’s dispensaries in Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City at this time.

They’ve encouraged more people to use the newer and less-trafficked Atlantic City dispensary. And Compassionate Care also has a take-a-number system in Egg Harbor, which allows people to wait in their cars until their turn to enter the dispensary comes.

Still, Knowlton says he worries about new patients trying to get authorization, and he hopes the health department can consider ways to get them into the program virtually.

“Anxiety is one of the primary conditions. You’d have to be pretty abnormal to not feel anxious now,” he said. “It’s really something that you can do by personal history. You’re not doing an actual procedure. It seems to be that that can be done virtually rather than actually in an office.”

The other dispensaries, including Rise Paterson, Curaleaf NJ, Garden State Dispensary, Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center and Greenleaf Compassion, did not return requests for comment about curbside pickup.

But in a joint statement released Wednesday, the 12 operational and pending licensed dispensaries collectively said they were working on ways to implement curbside dispensing, and that their overall supply remained “sufficient to meet patient need.”

“We ask for your patience as we adjust to this new normal. We understand the frustrations that come with long lines and wait times. We hope that patients can be reassured that our status as essential businesses protects their access,” the statement said. “We are discouraging overbuying so that patients can obtain the medical cannabis that they need when they need it.”

Some have said home delivery would ease the burdens on patients, too. Last week, New Jersey CannaBusiness Association’s Scott Rudder told NJ Cannabis Insider it would likely qualify as a reform the health department could enact.

“There are things the state can and should be doing to help patients during this time of need and self-isolation and delivery is one of them,” he said. “We know it’s possible under the new law; the new regulations have to be implemented.”

Jeff Brown, assistant commissioner for the health department who oversees the medical marijuana program, did not respond to an inquiry about home delivery.

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Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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