KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday relaxed some medical licensing restrictions to help meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kelly announced at her daily press conference that she'd signed Executive Order 20-26, which consists of four parts meant to help Kansas health care facilities meet emergency response needs.
First, the order "temporarily waives physician supervision or collaboration requirements for certain medical licensees who are assisting in our response efforts."
Those licensees include advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants and licensed practical nurses.
"Temporarily easing some regulatory measures will help ensure patients with COVID-19 receives the care that they need," Kelly said.
The order also allows registered nurses and practical nurses to practice if their specialty license is exempt, inactive or has lapsed within the last five years.
Under the order, students enrolled in programs to become a licensed, registered or certified health care provider are allowed to volunteer or work in a facility in appropriate roles as "necessary to support a facility's response to the COVID-19 pandemic."
Lastly, Kelly's new executive order ensures health care providers assisting the state's COVID-19 response will be covered by liability protections in the Kansas Emergency Management Act.
"The executive order is a first step targeted at immediate emergency response needs," Kelly said. "There are, however, broader and more complex challenges facing health care providers in this new reality. They've been forced to rapidly reconfigure and reshape their work in light of the massive disruption COVID-19 has wrought."
Kelly added that her executive order cannot, and should not, address the broader challenges, but encouraged the Kansas legislature to look into ways "to better enable our doctors and our nurses to adequately protect both their patients and themselves as we adjust to a new normal in the coronavirus era."
Kelly said the state's ultimate goal is to transition from response to recovery.
Watch the full press conference below.
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