President’s Letter

Leading with Purpose: Protecting Our Patients. Strengthening Our Specialty and Our Communities. Building Our Future.

I am pleased to share the 2026–2028 MOCEP Presidential Agenda, a vision of where we are going as an organization and what we hope to accomplish together. Grounded in our commitment to emergency physicians and providing excellent emergency care for our Missouri’s patients, this agenda centers on four priorities. Our Board has already put this vision into action, meeting in Springfield on August 22, 2026, for a dedicated strategic planning session, preceded by a reception with MOCEP members and Emergency Physicians from Springfield and Southwest Missouri. These priorities will help shape MOCEP’s Strategic Plan, translating our vision into focused, measurable action over the next two years.

1. Protect Our Patients

The Welfare of the People

Our first obligation has always been, and always will be, to the patients who place their trust in us during life’s most critical moments. MOCEP will continue to advocate for legislation and policies that protect patients and preserve timely access to high-quality emergency care throughout Missouri. We will oppose efforts that threaten patient access and weaken our emergency care system.

ACEP recently engaged with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) to include a new requirement in their recently released trauma guidelines on Level IV Trauma Center Standards that includes “24/7/365 coverage by an emergency physician.” As you may remember, MOCEP helped to introduce a bill into the Missouri legislature last year that would require a physician to be on site staffing the ED, at all times, in all of Missouri’s emergency departments. We will continue fighting to ensure that every emergency department is staffed by a physician, because every Missourian deserves expert emergency care regardless of where they live or when they need us.

• When we protect emergency care, we protect the people of Missouri.

• Keep Up the Fight for Emergency Physicians

Supporting Those Who Serve the People

The welfare of our patients depends upon the strength of the physicians and healthcare professionals who care for them. 

Our specialty deserves strong advocacy. MOCEP will continue to defend fair physician reimbursement while opposing policies that diminish the value of emergency medicine. Recently, MOCEP won in its fight against workplace violence, as the state passed a bill to provide signage warning of penalties for violence against health care workers in our hospitals. We will continue to advocate for safer workplaces by addressing the growing epidemic of violence against healthcare workers and continue seeking meaningful solutions for the increasing burden of psychiatric emergencies facing EDs across our state.

Emergency medicine is also evolving beyond the walls of the Emergency Department. We have an opportunity to expand our roles through telehealth, virtual EM consultations, community paramedicine, and innovative prehospital treatments delivered under EM physician medical direction. These models improve access, strengthen EMS partnerships, and position emergency physicians as leaders across the entire continuum of acute care.

• By investing in emergency physicians, we strengthen the care we provide to every patient.

• Strengthen Our Community

Building Partnerships Across Missouri

No organization succeeds in isolation.

The future of Emergency Medicine depends upon meaningful collaboration with partners who share our commitment to improving healthcare throughout Missouri. We will strengthen relationships with physician organizations, specialty societies, EMS leaders, hospitals, and public health organizations to amplify our collective voice and advocate more effectively for our patients and profession.

We must also invest in the next generation. We will expand opportunities for medical students, residents, and fellows to engage with MOCEP, strengthening mentorship, and creating new pathways for leadership and professional development. We have recently re-established our Medical Student Council (MSC) and I look forward to working with student doctors Dylan Casas (Chair), Nicholas FitzGerald (Vice Chair), and Cece Watts (Secretary), along with the school reps during my term.

We must also recognize that emergency medicine extends far beyond our metropolitan centers. By expanding our outreach to rural hospitals and referral centers, we can better connect physicians across the state, share resources, and ensure every emergency physician has a voice within MOCEP.

We believe that excellent medical care should never be dependent on which city or zip code you live in. In June, we gave our support to the “Rural Hospital Emergency Department Guarantee Act”, introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Josh Hawley.  We continue to advocate for using funds from the “Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program” to help our patients and rural communities maintain access to excellent emergency care across Missouri. We look forward to partnering with other like-minded organizations to advocate for better healthcare for all Missourians.

• Together, our network becomes stronger than any one institution or individual.

• Honor Our Legacy, Shape Our Future

Ensuring the Next Generation Continues This Mission

As we prepare for MOCEP’s 50th Anniversary in 2028, we have a remarkable opportunity to celebrate the leaders who built this organization while looking boldly toward its future.

Our history reminds us that progress has always come through advocacy, service, and visionary leadership. The next chapter of MOCEP will be written by today’s students, residents, fellows, and early-career physicians. By investing in their development, we ensure that the principles upon which this organization was founded continue to guide emergency medicine for decades to come.

• Our greatest legacy will not simply be what we accomplish during our careers; it will be the leaders we inspire to continue the mission long after we are gone.

I look forward to working alongside each of you to turn this shared vision into meaningful progress for our patients, our specialty, and our communities.

Kene Chukwuanu, M.D.

President, Missouri College of Emergency Physicians (MOCEP)