EXECUTIVE ORDER
05-27

WHEREAS, I have been advised by the Director of the State Emergency Management Agency that the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are requesting assistance under the Emergency Mutual Aid Compact (EMAC), codified in Missouri at Section 44.415, RSMo, in response to Hurricane Katrina; and

WHEREAS, the EMAC is designed to protect the safety and welfare of the citizens in the affected participating EMAC states; and

WHEREAS, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of thousands of inhabitants in the coastal communities of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have been forced to evacuate this disaster stricken region; and

WHEREAS, due to the widespread loss of power and inhospitable conditions in the disaster stricken region, the ability of many health care facilities to provide necessary care to patients that were hospitalized prior to, or as a result of, Hurricane Katrina has been severely compromised; and

WHEREAS, the conditions wrought by Hurricane Katrina have necessitated the immediate evacuation of these vulnerable patients and their caregivers from the disaster stricken region and requires their placement in facilities where proper care can be rendered; and

WHEREAS, the medical community and the states impacted by Hurricane Katrina have requested that patients requiring evacuation and treatment be given refuge at health care facilities located within Missouri, whether existing or established for the specific purpose of providing treatment to evacuees; and

WHEREAS, an influx of substantial numbers of patients from the states impacted by Hurricane Katrina will overburden health care professionals in Missouri unless additional health care professionals licensed in other states are permitted to assist with the care of these individuals; and

WHEREAS, protection of the safety and welfare of the citizens in the affected communities requires an invocation of the provisions of Section 44.415, RSMo, which provides for emergency mutual aid with other states, and Section 190.500, RSMo, which authorizes the temporary licensure of out-of-state healthcare providers in Missouri when the Governor has declared a state of emergency pursuant to Section 44.100, RSMo.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, MATT BLUNT, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 44.100, RSMo and Section 44.415, RSMo do hereby declare a state of emergency in Missouri occasioned by the impending influx of substantial numbers of hospitalized individuals from the disaster stricken regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and Florida to healthcare facilities in the State of Missouri. This influx of patients will compromise the ability of Missouri healthcare providers to care for existing patients as well as evacuees, creating a substantial risk to the safety and welfare of inhabitants of the State of Missouri. As such, I do hereby direct all relevant state agencies to facilitate the temporary licensure, pursuant to Section 190.500, RSMo, of any healthcare providers accompanying and/or providing direct care to evacuees. Temporary licensure pursuant to Section 109.500, RSMo shall only apply with regard to the subject healthcare providers' treatment of evacuees from the disaster stricken regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and only in facilities in which they are approved to provide care by the appropriate licensing board or commission of the State of Missouri.

This order shall terminate upon the declaration of an end to the emergency, or October 15, 2005 unless extended in whole or in part.

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