(April 1, 2020, Trenton, NJ) – Chair of the Senate Health Committee Senator Joe Vitale welcomed Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 112 today which will increase the number of health care professionals with full practicing authority in New Jersey as the state continues to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

In a move long-advocated for by Senator Vitale, the EO will allow advanced practice nurses and physician assistants to practice without supervision or joint protocol in response to the crisis.

“As the New Jersey health care system strains under the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor’s action today was a smart and responsible expansion of protected personal care providers in the face of unprecedented circumstances,” said Senator Vitale. “I have long worried about the bottle neck created by the joint protocol system in our state and I am glad the administration has chosen to unilaterally bypass it as the demand for trained professionals with full practicing authority skyrockets.

“While the need has never been greater than today, even in normal times, the joint protocol system limits access to care. Once we emerge from the other side of this crisis I hope these health care experts can continue to provide care without the overly cumbersome system of physician review.”