New Jersey Administrative Code
Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE
Section - Executive Order No. 111 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024

Governor Philip D. Murphy

Executive Order No. 111 (2020)

An Order Directing Health Care Facilities to Report Data, Including PPE Inventory and Bed Capacity, on a Daily Basis

Issued: March 28, 2020.

Effective: March 28, 2020.

WHEREAS, through Executive Order No. 102 (2020), which I signed on February 3, 2020, I created the State's Coronavirus Task Force, chaired by the Commissioner of the New Jersey

Department of Health ("DOH"), in order to coordinate the State's efforts to appropriately prepare for and respond to the public health hazard posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"); and

WHEREAS on March 9, 2020, through Executive Order No. 103 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared both a Public Health Emergency and a State of Emergency throughout the State due to the public health hazard created by COVID- 19; and

WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserved the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID- 19; and

WHEREAS, as of March 27, 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"), there were more than 509,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with over 23,000 of those cases having resulted in death; and

WHEREAS, as of March 27, 2020, there were more than 85,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with over 1,200 of those cases having resulted in death; and

WHEREAS, as of March 27, 2020, there were at least 8,825 positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, with at least 108 of those cases having resulted in death; and

WHEREAS, the State has already taken aggressive steps to expand the capacity of New Jersey's health care system, including the construction of four modular field treatment facilities in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is already underway and will result in approximately 1,000 new hospital beds; and

WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, I signed Executive Order No. 109 (2020), suspending elective surgeries and invasive procedures and requiring that all businesses and non-hospital health care facilities submit an inventory to the State of the Personal Protective Equipment ("PPE"), ventilators, respirators, and anesthesia machines they have in their possession that are not required for the provision of critical health care services; and

WHEREAS, a number of businesses have already gone above and beyond these reporting requirements and demonstrated exemplary corporate citizenship by donating large amounts of PPE to the State; and

WHEREAS, the State's capacity-building efforts can be implemented only by having a complete understanding of the health care system's existing capacity and its gaps, which will allow additional resources to be deployed where they are most needed; and

WHEREAS, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management is the central State repository to receive, allocate, and distribute resources to respond to this public health emergency; and

WHEREAS, the current information reported by hospitals and other health care providers, done on a voluntary basis, is insufficient to meet the State's needs in developing and maintaining situational awareness of the health care system's capacity; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-36, the Governor is authorized to require any public official, citizen, or resident of New Jersey, or any firm, partnership, or corporation incorporated or doing business in this State to furnish information reasonably necessary to respond to and alleviate the current emergency; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-33 et seq., N.J.S.A. 38A:3-6.1, and N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4 and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT: