Massachusetts officials recently announced they are ready to move forward with the state’s medical cannabis program, after a yearlong delay.

The Department of Public Health finalized the new regulations in September 2016, but they were then put on hold over the voter-approved ballot measure that legalized social cannabis in the state last November.

The new rules aim to facilitate patients’ access to medical cannabis, and allow employees of nursing homes, hospice centers and other medical facilities to administer medical cannabis to patients, and finally, ease the regulatory burden on dispensaries.

Certified nurse practitioners will also be able to apply for permission to issue cannabis recommendations. Previously, only doctors who registered with the Department of Public Health could issue those recommendations.

The department said it will bring the proposal to the state’s Public Health Council for formal approval on Nov. 8, which will then be certified by the secretary of the commonwealth. Officials hope to make the changes by the end of the year.

“This is big,” Nichole Snow, president of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, which represents patients who use medical cannabis, said. “Massachusetts will have a broader, more accessible program for patients, caregivers, and providers the moment these regulations take hold.”

Cultivators would also be allowed to grow cannabis plants from cuttings instead of seeds, bringing them in alignment with mainstream canna-farming practices.

“The ability to cultivate from plant cuttings allows us more precision in the selection of the genetic profiles of our products, which in turn raises quality, safety, and efficacy,” said Michael Dundas, chief executive officer of Sage Cannabis, which owns medical dispensaries in Cambridge and Somerville.

Health department officials said the delay in implementing the medical cannabis regulations was needed to ensure the regulations would not create conflict with the Legislature’s rewritten version of the social cannabis law. Moreover, officials had to wait to consult with the new Cannabis Control Commission, which will eventually be charge of both the social and medical cannabis market.